On the eve of the 3rd Test at Indore between India and Australia, Rohit Sharma has made a rather bizarre comment about requesting for green pitch at Ahmedabad. When I first read it, I cannot believe my eyes. What am I even reading? Is he serious? Does he even understand what he is saying? How ridiculous it sounded? Does he even realise that his words will be taken out of context and that the Australian media will have a field day? They will say that they told you so of India doctoring the pitches. These are infact tall claims in the middle of the series. Rohit will do well do concentrate on the job at hand rather than making tall claims. This is about Rohit Sharma’s ridiculous comment.
“It will be a different ball game (facing Australia in England) for both teams, actually. There is definitely a possibility of that (Ahmedabad as preparatory game for WTC final). We have already spoken about it. We need to get the guys ready for it. If we get the result we want here (Indore), we might think of doing something different in Ahmedabad for sure.”
Absurd comment
First of all, let me look the absurdity of this comment. The 4th and the final test will start and end before March 13. The final is slated for the month of June. There is a full 3 month window between now and the final. What benefit does playing on a seaming wicket produce now? Absolutely zero. The IPL will start in another 3 weeks. It will go on right till the beginning of June. Every Indian cricket will be involved in the IPL. They will get completely used to white-ball cricket. Come June, all that they will be capable of doing is to hit through the line. The bowlers will want to restrict rather than try and pick up wickets. 3 months of IPL will completely change the way the players approach the finals. It is nonsense to even think of a green pitch so early.
Second, the test will be played in India and not in England. The conditions, the pitches will change drastically. The green pitch will not have any bearing on the pitch at Lord’s. India have prepared such pitches in the past. Most notably, before the series against South Africa, Eden Gardens laid out a green pitch against Sri Lanka. India won that easily but went to South Africa and lost the series promptly. This despite the fact that the South African series started 10 days after the Sri Lankan test.
The irresponsible comment
The Australian, English and other international media have always said that the Indian players specifically ask for turning pitches. It maybe true or it may not be true. Either the players ask the curator to prepare turning pitches or the curators themselves, looking at the dominance of India at home, prepare such pitches to suit the home team. The point is, Rohit’s comment will be construed as the players interfering in the preparation of the pitch.
Wrapping up Rohit Sharma’s ridiculous comment
Rohit’s comments sparks of arrogance. He has said that the priority is to win the 3rd test but that by commenting on a green pitch at Ahmedabad, he has come across opinionated. If a question was asked about the pitch, he must be posed a question back to the questionnaire what is the point of worrying about a game that will be held 3 months from now when there is 3 months of hit and giggle IPL is coming up?
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