IndvsAus 3rd test: Australia is no stranger to facing India on spin-friendly pitches when touring India, and this Border Gavaskar Trophy match has been no different. While the first two test matches at Nagpur and Delhi looked to trouble the visitors, the third match was troublesome for the hosts.
The third test match in Indore witnessed things going extreme. The pitch saw significant deviations from the first over itself, leaving fans and players in shock.
While some balls saw major turns, some bounced out of control, while others stayed drastically low. The cracks were seen even before the first ball was bowled, whereas grassy patches out wide and in the middle of lengths were causing chaos.
Right before India lost their first wicket of skipper Rohit Sharma, Australian great Matthew Hayden, in commentary, said, “It was a good toss to win from an Indian fan’s perspective. I was out there doing the pitch [report] with Murali Karthik. The first thing we thought was it looked like a day three type wicket. Those cracks are now quite evident right the way through it.
“Very very dry and already we’ve seen today a couple balls go through the top (layer).”
However, the game looked to be turning at a quick pace when spinners entered the picture early on. Matthew Kuhnemann picked up two quick wickets in three balls, completing his first five-wicket haul in a test match. In contrast, Nathan Lyon also picked a three-wicket haul.
Indore was chosen as a replacement for an earlier chosen host for the third test, Dharamshala, as it was deemed to have a surface definition to host the match. But the first five wickets falling in the first hour of the test match left Indian batters absolutely helpless.
IndvsAus: Chaos on social media
Twitter was soon flooded with harsh critics of the Indore pitch:
What sort of pitch is this?! #INDvAUS
— Andrew Wu (@wutube) March 1, 2023
Wellll at this rate I’d be wrapped if we make double figures on this pitch tbh #INDvAUS
— Peter Hooley (@PeterHooley12) March 1, 2023
Lyon turns his second ball square to bowl a flummoxed Pujara #INDvAUS
— Daniel Brettig 🏏 (@danbrettig) March 1, 2023
In Nagpur, while the ball turned 2.5 degrees, the Delhi pitch saw an average turn of 3.8 degrees, but Indore saw it drastically increase to 4.8 degrees.
Matthew Hayden, in commentary, expressed his concern over such conditions and said, “This is why I’ve got a problem with these conditions. There’s no way in the world that a spin bowler should come on in the sixth over.
4.8 degrees- that’s a massive turn. That’s the sort of turn you’d expect on day three. Day one and day two should be about batting.”