INDORE, India, March 1 (Reuters) – The pitch India rolled out for the third test against Australia drew widespread criticism after 14 wickets, including their 10, tumbled on the opening day of the contest on Wednesday.
Milking 'home advantage' is commonplace in international cricket and India have never shied away from preparing pitches that would suit their spinners.
The first two matches of the four-test series were played on turning tracks and India wrapped up victory inside three days both in Nagpur and Delhi to make sure they will retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
But India got a taste of their own medicine on Wednesday when they were bundled out for 109 on a minefield of a pitch, where the ball spun sharply from the morning session and often kept low.
India's star-studded lineup lasted 33.2 overs with only Virat Kohli, their top-scorer with 22, facing more than 50 deliveries.
For Australia, left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann (5-16), who was introduced into the attack as early as in the sixth over, claimed his first five-wicket haul in just his second test.
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"It was mayhem," former Australia test batsman Mark Waugh said on Fox Sports.
"The pitch was not up to test standard, I think that's a fair thing to say.
"Balls going through the top (layer) in the first 20 minutes of a test match, that's not good enough."
His former team mate Matthew Hayden said the pitch was overly bias towards the spinner.
"It shouldn't be a spin bowler's paradise necessarily, it shouldn't be keeping low and turning a mile on day one," he said.
"You're allowed to have a four or five day test match! Otherwise just call it as it is, we'll just play three-dayers."
Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg quipped on Twitter: "One day test match anyone?"
The match was moved to Indore only last month following concerns about the newly-laid outfield in the original venue in Dharamsala.
Australia finished the day on 156-4, riding on Usman Khawaja's fluent 60.
Khawaja would only call the pitch "spin-friendly" and does not expect it to get any better.
"It was spinning in the morning, spinning this afternoon, I think it's a pretty spin-friendly wicket out there," the opener told the broadcasters.
"I guess we'll know tomorrow. It's always hard to tell (on) day one. If I'm gonna be honest, it felt pretty tough out there the whole time I was out there.
"I don't expect it to get any better, if I can put it that way."
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Borussia Dortmund took a two-goal lead in the first half and hung on for a nervous 2-1 victory over RB Leipzig on Friday to go top of the Bundesliga and stretch their perfect run in 2023 to eighth straight league wins.
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Milking 'home advantage' is commonplace in international cricket and India have never shied away from preparing pitches that would suit their spinners.
The first two matches of the four-test series were played on turning tracks and India wrapped up victory inside three days both in Nagpur and Delhi to make sure they will retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
But India got a taste of their own medicine on Wednesday when they were bundled out for 109 on a minefield of a pitch, where the ball spun sharply from the morning session and often kept low.
India's star-studded lineup lasted 33.2 overs with only Virat Kohli, their top-scorer with 22, facing more than 50 deliveries.
For Australia, left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann (5-16), who was introduced into the attack as early as in the sixth over, claimed his first five-wicket haul in just his second test.
View 2 more stories
"It was mayhem," former Australia test batsman Mark Waugh said on Fox Sports.
"The pitch was not up to test standard, I think that's a fair thing to say.
"Balls going through the top (layer) in the first 20 minutes of a test match, that's not good enough."
His former team mate Matthew Hayden said the pitch was overly bias towards the spinner.
"It shouldn't be a spin bowler's paradise necessarily, it shouldn't be keeping low and turning a mile on day one," he said.
"You're allowed to have a four or five day test match! Otherwise just call it as it is, we'll just play three-dayers."
Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg quipped on Twitter: "One day test match anyone?"
The match was moved to Indore only last month following concerns about the newly-laid outfield in the original venue in Dharamsala.
Australia finished the day on 156-4, riding on Usman Khawaja's fluent 60.
Khawaja would only call the pitch "spin-friendly" and does not expect it to get any better.
"It was spinning in the morning, spinning this afternoon, I think it's a pretty spin-friendly wicket out there," the opener told the broadcasters.
"I guess we'll know tomorrow. It's always hard to tell (on) day one. If I'm gonna be honest, it felt pretty tough out there the whole time I was out there.
"I don't expect it to get any better, if I can put it that way."
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Borussia Dortmund took a two-goal lead in the first half and hung on for a nervous 2-1 victory over RB Leipzig on Friday to go top of the Bundesliga and stretch their perfect run in 2023 to eighth straight league wins.
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.
Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology.
The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs.
The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals.
Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile.
Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts.
Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.
© 2023 Reuters. All rights reserved
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