‘Nagpur Test far more exciting than Perth draw’
NEW DELHI: The India team is still bristling with indignation over criticism that the pitch for the Nagpur Test was underprepared and favoured the spinners too much, making batting a virtual lottery. The negative comments over the dusty pitch after a second Test in the series ended inside three days has overshadowed India’s first series win over South Africa for 11 years.
After skipper Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed questions whether the nature of the pitch undervalued the victory — Ashwin took 12 wickets in the match to take his series tally to 24 — team director Ravi Shastri was scathing in his criticism of those who went on and on about the pitch.
“There is nothing wrong with it,” the former all-rounder said in an interview to a website. “I would hope the one in Delhi is absolutely the same. I have no qualms about it.” The final Tests starts at the Ferozeshah Shastri said he would rather have an exciting game than one which dragged on for five days, criticising batsmen’s poor technique after Murali Vijay’s 40 proved the highest score in the Test with no century recorded yet in the series.
“It just goes to show that with the amount of one-day cricket being played, the tendency to graft, spend long hours at the crease is diminishing. (The pitch was) absolutely not (a problem). It’s on both sides...You have to stop cribbing and get on with the job at hand,” he said.
Shastri was unapologetic, and has in fact demanded that the Kotla curator also lay out a turning pitch. He compared the match to the high-scoring draw which Australia and New Zealand played out in Perth, the second Test of that series.
Former South Africa allrounder Jacques Kallis as well as former England skipper Michael Vaughan, besides some ex-Australia stars like Matthew Hayden have criticised the pitch.
Shastri was dismissive: “Let them sit in Australia and talk about their pitches. Tell them not to waste their time about Indian tracks. Come and play here,” he said. “Which rule tells me that a ball can’t turn on Day 1? Where does it tell me in the rulebook that it can only swing and seam?”