Rohit Sharma Slammed Pitch-Talks: Days before the first Test match between India and Australia started in Nagpur, the pitch at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) became a center of controversy, with several former Australian players and experts complaining about the nature of the track.
As the match began, the pitch was all Australia could talk about as they produced a nightmarish performance against the Rohit Sharma-led squad. While India managed to score 400 runs in their first innings, Australia struggled to score runs and they eventually lost the match by innings and 123 runs on Saturday to go 0-1 down in the four-match Border-Gavaskar series.
After the big win, the Indian captain Rohit Sharma slammed the critics of the pitch. His statement came during an interview with senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who took a dig at the Aussies.
The Pat Cummins-led Australian cricket team batted for as long as just three sessions in the entire match, however, they were bowled out for just 177 runs on Day 1 of the Test match after opting to bat first and their misery lasted for only a single session on Day 3, having lost all the wickets for just 91 runs.
Talking about the performance of the Indian cricket team, while captain Rohit Sharma smashed a stunning century, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja also scored their respective half-century knocks. Mohammed Shami too troubled the Aussies with his crucial knock of 37 runs.
Rohit Sharma Slammed Nagpur Pitch Critics
Ravichandran Ashwin, who ran through the Australian batters in the second innings with his record five-wicket haul, took a brutal dig at Australia for all the “pitch talk”, during his conversation with Rohit on BCCI.tv.
“Pitch talk is the real favourite topic on social media, especially for touring teams. When you were batting or they were batting, not one ball nicked off and went to silly points. You guys did not look in trouble. What is the secret? Is it good batsmanship or do we play on a different pitch?” Ashwin asked Rohit.
Responding to Ashwin, Rohit said: “Same pitch. Like I said, the talk we have in the changing room, it its about your ability and what you can do on the pitch. It’s beyond my understanding why there is so much talk about pitch. Sad to see there is not enough talk about skills,”
IND vs AUS 2nd Test:
Meanwhile, India and Australia will now lock horns in the 2nd Test match of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which is scheduled to start on 17th Feb and will take place in Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
