There has been a controversy around the Nagpur stadium pitch as some sections of Australian media pointed out that India is changing the pitch the suit the spinners.
The question was asked of Rohit Sharma in the pre-series press conference. Rohit, while confirming, that the pitch will suit the spinners, also replied that both teams have quality players and the focus should be on cricket, not the pitch.
The debate around the pitch started when a former Australian all rounder Simon O’Donnell and former fast bowler Jason Gillespie appeared on Australian media discussing India’s attempt to create a pitch that supports spin.
Australian sports journalist Robert Craddock even termed the pitch ‘doctored’.
Since then there has been debate about the pitch where some former Australian player Ian Healy saying that India has the right to make the pitch as they want to get advantage of home conditions.
When asked about the pitch related controversy, Rohit’s reply was:
“Just focus on cricket and not the pitch. After all the 22 guys out there are all quality players.”
“It is important to have a plan and figure a way. Everyone has a different method. Some like to sweep some reverse some hitting over the bowler. You need to rotate strike and sometimes you need to counterattack.
“The captains would obviously try different things and change fields and bowlers. So you need to plan and play accordingly,” he added.
Note that this is the first test being played under Rohit’s captaincy. In reply to the daunting challenge of playing Australia which are the number one side on the ICC World Test Championship table, Rohit said:
“We have four solid test matches to play in the BGT and we would want to win the series. It is going to be a challenging series and we have to be up for it. Preparation is the key. If you prepare well, you get results.”
The India vs Australia series is start to begin from tomorrow 9th February with the first match set to be played in Nagpure. Check out our coverage of the series here:
