India vs Australia: Even though India’s biggest rivalry is cricket is against Pakistan while the Ashes is the biggest occasion for the Australian team, India vs Australia is a match of equal interest, if not more for the fans. With a lot of buzz and a lot more expectations to improve its record in the Asian sub-continent, a new-look Australian side landed in India to face in-form Virat Kohli and men. The first match of the series was played at Pune making it the 25th venue in India to host a Test. The stage was set for a riveting and thrilling but what followed was a disappointing game between two struggling sides, that didn’t even last for 3 days.
Here are some Twitter reactions:
????????congrats boys. Absolutely brilliant!
— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23) February 25, 2017
Good friends make even difficult times easier. It’s disappointing but r you a good friend?
Time to be a good friend&continue to support Team— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) February 25, 2017
More than any of the players or conditions, it was the pitch curator who was responsible for killing what could have been a fantastic match. Before the start of the game, he said there is something for everyone in this wicket. As it turned out, there was something for everyone to complaint about in this wicket. Before the start of 2nd day’s play Ravi Shastri said, “This pitch needs to visit a dermatologist” and he couldn’t have summed it up better.
Watch our analysis of the match:
The pitch was so dry that Virat Kohli started the game with R Ashwin on the 1st day itself and by the end of 10th over, patches start to develop making life hell for the batsmen. By the end of 1st day, it starting looking like a 5th day wicket. Batting was so tough that players like Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara who have grown up playing on turning wickets were left baffled.
Watch Matthew Wade escaping twice today:
Even though Steven Smith went on to score a century in the 2nd innings but even that knock was not flawless as he was dropped as many as 4 times before he could reach that three-figure mark. This isn’t the first time that we have seen a pitch like this but its been some time since we last did. BCCI needs to take a stronger stand on the quality of wickets and needs to make sure that Tests are not dusted like this in the future.