'Former cricketers did not...': Rohit Sharma on ex-players' rant on Indore Test pitch after India's defeat
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IND vs AUS: After the end of the Indore Test, where Australia won by nine wickets, Indian captain Rohit Sharma reacted to the rant of former cricketers on the nature of the surface at Holkar Stadium, Indore.
Australia defeated India by nine wickets on Day 3 of the third and penultimate Test, in Indore, to keep the 2022/23 Border-Gavaskar Trophy alive, with the scoreline being 2-1 in hosts' favour. A lot has been said and written about the nature of the pitch on offer at the Holkar Stadium, Indore where the match ended in less than three complete days. After the game, captain Rohit Sharma reacted to all such noises around the Indore pitch.
The likes of Matthew Hayden, Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, Michael Clarke, etc. opined on the pitch ever since the Test commenced on Wednesday (March 01). While 14 wickets fell on the opening day, as many as 16 fell on Day 2. At the post-match presser, Rohit reacted to all such criticism and revealed thatit was Indian team'scollective decisionto play on such surfaces despite being aware of the challenges.
Rohit said, "Former cricketers did not play on pitches like this. So I don't know. Like I said, this is the kind of pitch we wanted to play in and this is our strength. When you play in home, you want to play to your strength and not worry about what people outside are speaking about. And had we not gotten results, we would have thought otherwise."
Hitman pointed out how it is important to laud Nathan Lyon (Player-of-the-Match for his 11-wicket haul including 8 for 64 in India's second innings) and not just talk about the pitch. "This pitch talk is getting too much. Every time we play in India, the focus is only on pitch. Why are people not asking me about Nathan Lyon and how well he bowled? Or, how well Pujara batted in the second innings? Or, how well Usman Khawaja played? Those are the things I can give you a details on, but not on pitch because it is absolutely not necessary, Rohit added.
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Friday, March 3, 2023 at 8:05 am