IND vs AUS: Harsha Bhogle Slams The Pitch Critics With A Powerful Tweet: India losing only 1 wicket in the 40 overs of their first innings, spanning across the 3rd session on Day 1 and first session on Day 2, was the best indication that there were no demons in the Nagpur pitch which the Australian media had been crying over leading up to the Test match and on Day 1 as Australia were bundled out for 177 with Jadeja and Ashwin sharing 8 wickets between them.
A day out from the match, the visual of the pitch, that the Australian media and fans, claimed to be “doctored” and selectively watered to allow the Indian spinners trouble the Australian left-handers, had gone viral.
Senior Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle tore into such noises about the pitch in the media with one tweet on the morning of Day 2 as Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin, who had come in at number 3 as the nightwatchman in the last over of Day 1, batted with caution and showed that batting was not impossible and the batters had to apply themselves on this surface, something which most of the Australian batters failed to do.
In his typical style, Harsha Bhogle asserted that declaring judgements on the pitch should be made only after knowing its real “character”, perhaps translating to only after both the teams had batted once on the pitch and only after a considerable period has passed, one can make strong comments over the nature of a pitch.
“As we do with people, so must we do with pitches. Get to know them before passing judgement on their character,” Harsha Bhogle tweeted on Friday morning, and this tweet went viral in quick time.
Meanwhile, India have taken a lead of 49 runs by Tea on Day 2 courtesy of a terrific century from Rohit Sharma, his 9th in Test and first against Australia in this format.
