Sunil Gavaskar opened up on the pitch debate in the ongoing India-Australia series and stated that the reasona behind India opting for rank turners in the series so far. Gavaskar gave a critical comment on India’s bowling attack and revealed the combination is forcing India to make dry pitches to take 20 wickets.
“Taking 20 wickets is not going to be easy in India. On a lot of Indian pitches, without your ace bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami and a slightly inexperienced Mohammed Siraj, I don’t think that bowling attack is such (strong). But with a little bit of help from a dry pitch, India can probably take 20 wickets. I think that is the thinking behind preparing such pitches,” said Gavaskar on India Today.
Gavaskar claimed that the World Test Championship (WTC) final played a big role behind India’s thinking and stated that India had to make full use of their spinners in these condtitions. He claimed that making a flat pitch where batters would have got runs is something India did not want
“For India to reach the World Test Championship Final, they did not have any other options (than producing turning tracks). If you would have had a strong attack, maybe you could have done something different but your strength is your spinners and therefore I think these pitches are being made. You do not want a flat pitch where the batters go out and dominate. These pitches are testing the temperament of the batters,” Gavaskar stated.
In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, India have played just two pacers in the playing XI so far in the series. Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj played the first two games while Umesh Yadav replaced Shami in the third test. Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel have formed a formidable spin trio for India in the series so far.
