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Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar went on a scathing rant, highlighting the growing hypocrisy surrounding the pitch debate. His comment came about after the first Ashes Test between Australia and England at the Optus Stadium in Perth was done and dusted in two days, with the former coming out on top by eight wickets. A total of 32 wickets fell in six sessions in Perth, and the score of 200 was breached just once, with Australia registering the score in the final innings to win the contest.
It is worth mentioning that last week, the Kolkata pitch came under severe criticism after the first Test of the Freedom Trophy between India and South Africa finished in just 2.5 days. Several pundits, such as Michael Vaughan, Cheteshwar Pujara and Anil Kumble, lambasted the Eden Gardens, but similar voices weren’t heard about the Perth surface.
However, one contrasting feature between the two pitches was that the pitch at Optus Stadium improved for batting as the game progressed, whereas it was the opposite at Eden, where variable bounce was present from the start.
In his assessment, Gavaskar also cited the Sydney Test between India and Australia earlier this year, where 15 wickets fell on the opening day.
Writing in his column for Mid-Day, Gavaskar wrote, “The Perth Test match has ended in less than two days with 32 wickets having fallen, including 19 on the first day, but as yet there’s not a word of criticism about the pitch there. Last year too, 17 wickets fell on Day One at Perth between India and Australia, and I can’t recall a critical word about the pitch, which had more grass on it than usual.”
“The same was in Sydney where 15 wickets fell on Day One. The argument, as enumerated by the curator in Perth last year, was ‘this is Perth, Australia, and you will get bounce’. Fine, but then when the pitch affords turn, why can’t it be accepted that this is India, and there will be turn? If you complain about the bounce, then the counter argument is you can’t play fast bowling. Why is there never a counter argument that you can’t play spin bowling when the pitch affords turn in India?” he added.
‘Stop pointing fingers’
During the Perth Test between Australia and England, former cricketers Ravichandran Ashwin and Aakash Chopra spoke up on social media, questioning the pitch talk and the hypocrisy and “double standards” of some.
“Is it the old syndrome of mistake being made by their umpires being called human error, while those errors made by sub-continent umpires was cheating? So similarly, is it that the curators there have no agenda, but those in India do? It’s good to see some of our recently retired cricketers asking questions about 19 wickets falling in a day,” Gavaskar wrote.
“So guys, it’s time to stop pointing fingers at Indian cricket as there are three of the same hand pointing back at you,” he added.
