The eventful first session of the Indore Test saw India lose their first seven wickets for 84 runs, and restarted the debate around the nature of pitches on offer in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series.
Discussions around the pitch began long before the first ball of the series was bowled as considerable media attention directed towards the look of the surface in Nagpur. The debate extended to the Delhi Test, where Australia suffered an implosion, losing nine wickets for 48 runs to inside three days. However, the larger criticism was directed more towards Australia’s dodgy approach against spin and less at the surface.
That changed in the first session in Indore, the venue of the shifted third Test after it was moved out of Dharamsala during the series. Upon first inspection, the pitch appeared to have a patch of green in the middle with bareness all around it.
There was considerable turn on offer in the first hour itself, as highlighted by Cheteshwar Pujara’s dismissal. The ball also kept sharply low on occasion, and produced puffs of dust early in the day.
Matthew Hayden, who did the pitch report for the broadcasters, noted that the surface looked like a “day three type wicket” with cracks quite evident around the surface.
Australia brought on Matt Kuhnemann as early as in the sixth over. The left-arm spinner dismissed Rohit Sharma with his sixth ball and Shubman Gill with his eighth, and went on to take a maiden five-wicket haul as India were all out for 109.
“This is why I’ve got a problem with these conditions,” Hayden told Fox. “There’s no way in the world that a spin bowler should come on in the sixth over.
“4.8 degrees [average turn in the first hour in Indore], that’s massive turn. That’s the sort of turn you’d expect [on] day three. You’ve got to give batters a chance… Day one, day two should be about batting.”
The pitch is doing plenty!#INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/qp5aQiJKBw
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) March 1, 2023
“It shouldn’t be a spin bowler’s paradise necessarily, it shouldn’t be keeping low and turning a mile on day one.”
To which, Ravi Shastri replied: “Home conditions”.
Hayden’s former teammate Mark Waugh, on Fox Cricket, said: “The pitch is not up to Test standard.”
Nice to see Nathan Lyon gather the ball for a run out at the bowling end 😜😜😜 #INDvAUS .. btw .. it’s a very poor 5 day pitch but it’s great viewing .. 👍👍
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 1, 2023
@ICC if the Gabba rating was poor I’m intrigued to see what this pitch gets… 😂
— Cameron Boyce (@CaJBoyce) March 1, 2023
https://twitter.com/Lshukla6/status/1630805187068850176
Looking at the pitch, not only Shami but I think Siraj and Umesh are also rested for this test 😅 #INDvAUS #BGT2023
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) March 1, 2023
Match refs around 've not hesitated to report pitches for poor quality. Though its very early in the 3rd test, it doesn't suggest this pitch will get better. Very keen to find out the Match referee's view and the Aussie view after the game. Want see how brave they are!
— Roshan Abeysinghe (@RoshanCricket) March 1, 2023
Not too far away in Gwalior,in the same state of MP the ROI are licking their lips at the prospect of winning the toss and batting first. They have crossed 100 already losing just 1 wicket in the first session. Welcome to the diversity of Indian pitches😂
— Abhinav Mukund (@mukundabhinav) March 1, 2023
In 1997, an India – Sri Lanka game in Indore was called off because of a bad pitch and the teams played an exhibition game. This pitch isn't unsafe but pretty close to it being rated bad imo. All kinds of shambles.
— Swaroop Swaminathan (@arseinho) March 1, 2023
They’ll be planting vegetables on a length on this pitch by the weekend. #INDvAUS
— Adam White (@White_Adam) March 1, 2023
What sort of pitch is this?! #INDvAUS
— Andrew Wu (@wutube) March 1, 2023
Mathew Hayden is absolutely blasting the pitch in the commentary box calling it "unfit" for a Test match.
Ravi Shastri says this is more than just the "home advantage" but is restrained in his remarks about the surface.#CricketTwitter #BorderGavaskarTrophy
— Navneet Mundhra (@navneet_mundhra) March 1, 2023
This is shocker of a pitch.
— Venkata Krishna B (@venkatatweets) March 1, 2023
Will anyone of the worthies in commentary box call this out for what it is: pitch unfit to be played for the prestigious Border Gavaskar trophy. We already have retained trophy, have more than a foot in WTC final, do we really need a sub standard pitch to win? Awful. Cc @BCCI https://t.co/CA6lknfma0
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) March 1, 2023
Not everyone was complaining though:
Aah, the kind of pitch I love to see. Wonder why it took them three Tests to prepare this.
— Abhishek Mukherjee (@ovshake42) March 1, 2023
Very entertaining cricket..
I think this pitch would be a good template for all red ball cricket around the world!!!
— Michael Beer (@Beery19) March 1, 2023
