Shots had been fired from former Australian wicket-keeper Ian Healy targeting the pitches that are expected in the upcoming 4-Test series between India and Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
On their last two tours in India, Australia were defeated by 4-0 in 2013 and 2-1 in 2017. Ian Healy said that Australia will have a good chance in the series if India produce “fair wickets”, but he said the hosts are overwhelming favorites if the pitches are “unfair”.
“I think if they produce fair Indian wickets, that are good batting wickets, to start with, (that) probably spin and spin pretty consistently but spin a long way, late in the match, we (Australia) win. If their are unfair wickets which I’ve seen in the last series, where balls were jumping ridiculously and sliding down low from day one, I think India play those conditions better than us,” Ian Healy said on SENQ Breakfast.
These comments from the 58-year-old commentator haven’t gone down well with the Indian fans and those who are part of the Indian cricket fraternity, including off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who said that Healy “has set a spark with this take” and admitted that “banters will keep coming from the Australian camp for sure”.
Venkatesh Prasad gives the best reply to Ian Healy
Former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad didn’t shy away from slamming Ian Healy’s comments with a perfect reply.
Prasad tweeted that going by Healy’s comments India win on unfair surfaces, and pointed out that India did win twice in Australia on their last two tours.
“So Australia prepared unfair pitches against India in 2018-19 and 2020-21 to lose both test series at their home,” Venkatesh Prasad tweeted.
When will the India-Australia Test series start?
The India-Australia Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will begin on February 9 in Nagpur. The second Test is scheduled to be played in Delhi, followed by the third Test in Dharamsala, before the series concludes in Ahmedabad.
India and Australia Squads for Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023:
Australia Test squad for the tour of India: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (VC), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.
India Squad for the first two matches: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Shubman Gill, C Pujara, V Kohli, S Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.
