Former India coach Ravi Shastri responded strongly when requested about claims of ‘tampering’ pitch in Nagpur for the primary India vs Australia Test.
Speaking on SEN’s Sportsday, co-host Ken Cornes advised Shastri that the “too dry” pitch equated to “cheating”, to which the latter replied, “That’s bullsh**t!”
“There is extra hype than the rest related to this primary Test match. It at all times occurs, you get 15mm grass, 18mm grass or 12mm grass elsewhere across the floor… At the top of this primary Test, I’m positive there might be somebody who scores 100. If somebody can rating 100 or 80-plus on that pitch, they’ve performed effectively and he’ll go and say, ‘What’s flawed with the pitch? You cling in there, you apply your self, your shot choice is nice, you get runs. But when you go on the market and assume you’ll smash each ball, good luck to you,” he stated as per Fox Cricket.
“If the ball goes to show from there, so be it. So what? It’s dwelling circumstances, do what fits you, each groups should play on a floor, there is a match referee who’s the boss, it is so simple as that. We have by no means complained concerning the pitch, in my profession we have now by no means complained a few regular pitch.
“No excuses, just keep at it, at the end of three days nobody will be getting hit on that surface. The quality of the camera lenses is so good, they can make green grass turn brown, that’s what you expect in India, Come on,” he stated.
Shastri additionally wrote concerning the pitch controversy in his column within the Sydney Morning Herald. “There is already a lot of talk about the surface in Nagpur. I think it’s a bit too much. A pitch is a pitch and it will be the same for both the teams. During my time as Indian coach, we made sure not to worry too much about the surface, be it grass or mud,” he wrote.
“I’ve no regrets in a house crew whose pitches go well with the ammunition they’ve of their armoury, be it in Australia or India. You have a look at the Indian crew, and it is vitally clear that their primary weapon is within the spin division. So, it’s pure that they might need the pitches to begin turning early. It ought to be in all places. That is the problem of Test cricket. You go to New Zealand and a few of these pitches are inexperienced sufficient for grazing and there will be wherever from 14-18 millimeters of grass. And no one complains about them,” he stated.
The Nagpur pitch is drawing sharp reactions from the Australian crew for the primary Test between India and Australia beginning on Thursday. The floor employees of Jamtha Stadium did some particular fine-tuning within the outdated Indian model on Tuesday. The whole floor was first watered, solely then curler remedy was performed in the course of the pitch and extra water was poured outdoors the left-handed batsman’s leg stump.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
