Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar has slammed the SCG pitch for the fifth Test between Australia and India, and said that had a similar strip been prepared for a match in India, ‘all hell would have broken loose’.
26 wickets have fallen in just two days in Sydney, including 15 on Day 2 alone, with both teams bowled out for under 200 on a pitch offering plenty of sideways movement and uneven bounce to the seam bowlers.
Only Beau Webster and Rishabh Pant have so much as reached half-centuries thus far, with Pant’s innings a remarkable counterattacking cameo that saw him reach the milestone in 29 balls, the second-fastest 50 by an Indian in Test cricket.
Rishabh Pant is currently 40 off 19 deliveries… ????
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Combined with a rare absence of Sydney rain, and the series decider looks set to be completed in just three days.
Speaking on ABC Radio, Gavaskar wasn’t impressed.
“When I saw the pitch I did say the cows could have gone and grazed on it,” he said.
“This is not the ideal Test match pitch that you want because you want it to go into a fourth or the fifth day.”
Gavaskar is also surprised at the lack of backlash over the surface, with Indian pitches frequently criticised as being substandard with similar bowler-friendly conditions – albeit primarily favouring spin bowling, not pace.
“If 15 wickets fell in India, all hell would have broken loose,” he said.
“We had Glenn McGrath saying he’d never seen so much grass. The point is, when you go overseas you have to be prepared to play on the surface.”
“Did you hear any former India cricketer moan about the pitch?
“We are not moaners, we are not whingers. When we go [overseas] and play cricket, we will tough it out, and if we are beaten, we are beaten.
“We understand that overseas it’s very difficult to beat home teams. You’ll never find us complaining.
“But 15 wickets in a day in India, man, there would be hell.”
India resume on Day 3 6/141, leading Australia by 145 runs.
Worrying signs for ‘ginger’ Bumrah
Indian fans hoping for positive signs from Jasprit Bumrah going into Day 3 of the fifth Test certainly haven’t got what they wanted.
Bumrah, who has a remarkable 32 wickets for the series, left the field midway through Day 2, with Virat Kohli captaining the Indian team in his absence.
He was later seen leaving the SCG and heading to hospital for scans, with teammate Prasidh Krishna confirming after play that he had been suffering from back spasms.
The signs appeared positive when Bumrah returned to the ground late in the day looking in positive spirits, but as Fox Cricket commentators Mark Howard, Alyssa Healy and Michael Hussey watched on on the morning of Day 3, the signs weren’t good.
“We watched Jasprit Bumrah – all the bowlers have warmed up. Bumrah didn’t warm up,” Howard said.
“He came out, just slowly walked around about five minutes ago, [then] he walked back into the pavilion. Didn’t look in the rudest of health.
“All the other bowlers were having a run-through, which he normally does… didn’t do anything.”
Bumrah will not be at 100%
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“He looked very ginger – he’s also in his sneakers, so at no point did he even contemplate bowling,” Healy added.
“It doesn’t look positive at the moment.”
For Hussey, the potential loss of Bumrah was a massive boon to Australia, and particularly the top order, with Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne both falling to the champion quick in the first innings.
“It’s a huge loss for India obviously if he’s not fit to bowl this afternoon. That maybe puts it in Australia’s favour,” Hussey said.
“I’m sure there’d be a few top-order Australian batsmen who would be pretty happy to see him not bowling.”
However, with Bumrah restricted to ten overs in Australia’s first innings, his teammates stepped up to bowl the hosts out for 181 and take a shock lead, with Krishna (3/42), Mohammed Siraj (3/51) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (2/32) all doing their bit.
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