Out of nowhere, the Nagpur wicket became the centre of attention even before the much-anticipated fixture between the two heavyweights commenced. Many well-known Australian media organizations, as well as their former players, involved themselves in constant negative chatter regarding the pitch. As a consequence, well pointed out by Brad Haddin, the tourists put their ‘energy into the wrong places’ during preparations by observing how Indian curators watered and rolled the track, and of course, paid the price for it later on.

To be clear, whenever India produce rank turners at home – something they have been doing for ages to enhance their strength – they are subjected to a full-blown character assassination. On the other hand, when the other Godfather members of the ICC from outside the subcontinent come up with green tops to assist their potent fast bowlers, their criticism is limited to a slight whisper. Maybe this happens because the appearance of cracks on spin-friendly wickets over time makes the tracks look ugly whereas on green pitches, grasses take time to wear off before the spinners come into play, leading to more balanced affairs on occasion. Maybe all the cricket-playing nations are whingy teenagers struggling to come to terms with reality. Who knows?

... the wicket spun but it wasn’t unplayable. We’d love to get another 100 or so runs and put a bit more pressure on their first innings.

Pat Cummins

Let’s get this straight. In Test cricket, bowlers win you matches and series, and at any time have to play more clinical roles than the batters to make it all happen. This is what worldwide appreciation for India’s bowling revolution in Test cricket under Virat Kohli was based on. By constantly backing fast bowlers to evolve, including the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, and Mohammed Siraj, Kohli enjoyed a record 40 victories in 68 Test matches, including two series triumphs each in New Zealand and Australia. Thereby, at this point, India have all the answers ready regardless of the challenge at hand. With Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel already in the mix, their bowling attack often emerged as the superior one in any condition.

So what’s the problem with playing in different conditions? Isn’t it in the direction for the sport itself, or would you rather have Test cricket played continuously on similar sorts of pitches that primarily help fast bowlers? Or maybe the world wants more of dead Pakistan pitches with no grass or moisture as on display when England and New Zealand toured there lately? 

Even a look at how spinners have fared in India since Australia’s last tour of India in 16/17 suggests the hosts’ spinners have been successfully taking the bulk of wickets while the tourists, more often than not, have struggled to find any rhythm. Ashwin is well aided by either, or at times both, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel in these conditions, while the likes of Murphy and Ajaz Patel receive little assistance from their teammates even if they find extra gear.

There is no denying that India, traditionally, does not produce a pitch that has a high probability of running the entirety of five days. They will dry and crack, and one must prepare themselves to tackle those surfaces much like Rohit, Jadeja, and Axar in Nagpur. In 2017, Steve Smith’s gritty century in Pune in 2017 was highly lauded, largely because the pitch received a ‘poor rating’ later on by the match referee. This time around, however, there was a lot of noise around pitches even before the series began. The trash-talk particularly did not allow Rohit’s splendid knock, as well as batting contributions from Jadeja and Axar, to get the praises they deserve. Therefore, visiting countries should focus on making their spinner capable enough of causing destruction with the ball in hand on Indian surfaces rather than making commenting comments in the run-up to face reality.