The noise around allegations of ‘doctored pitch’ has settled down following what transpired during the three days of the first Test between India and Australia in Nagpur. India outclassed their opponents with the ball and the bat to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series on Saturday.
Based on the how the groundstaff was preparing the pitch for the series opener, various media reports began claiming how the surface was being manipulated to give India bowlers an advantage against an Australian batting order comprising plenty of left-handers.
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However, on a pitch where Australia were bundled out for 177 in their first dig, India scored 400. In fact, Rohit Sharma struck a century while Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja – two lefties – scored big fifties.
After taking a sizeable lead, India then skittled Australia for 91 to win by an innings and 132 runs.
Former Australia captain Ian Chappell said the reality is India are a much superior side who are quite strong at home especially.
“The reality is that India have developed into a very strong side all round the world, with a special feel for how to win at home,” the 79-year-old wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo.
He added that Indian spin attack comprising Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel has exposed Australia’s weakness against quality spin bowling.
“The first Test has exposed Australia’s weakness against good spin bowling on turning pitches,” Chappell wrote.
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He advises Australia to not get mentally impacted by the magnitude of the defeat.
“If they can ensure this setback doesn’t mean their mental capacity to cope in India is not dented, it will keep them in the series. If they waver, they are in big trouble,” Chappell wrote.
He says that the pitch talk was just a ‘little game’ and in fact Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne showed others how to tackle it.
“The noise was exactly that in the case of the pitch. Not unexpectedly, it turned out to be nothing more than a fairly typical first-day Indian red-soil wicket,” Chappell wrote.
“It was by no means impossible to play on, as Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith showed, but Australia failed to post a testing first-innings total. The media making allegations about pitch-doctoring is nothing new. Players need to ignore this little game or else it has a debilitating effect on the visiting team,” he added.
He pointed out that India also played on the same track and ended up with 400 runs. “Far too much emphasis is put on how pitches are going to play and on doctoring. It’s worth remembering that both teams have to play on the same pitch,” he said.
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