BGT 2023 | Players must not get involved in pitch-doctoring controversy, advises Ian Chappell
Ian Chappell has advised the Australian team that they must ignore all the talk around pitch doctoring and focus on cricket as it can affect results in a negative way. Chappell further added that Australia should ensure that their mental capacity to cope in India is not dented after the first Test.
India have continued their dominance in Test cricket at home against Australia winning the Nagpur Test by innings win. However, before the start of the game, there were a lot of controversies surrounding the nature of the pitch and it was claimed that the pitch was doctored. In the lead-up to the fixture, many cricket experts claimed that the pitch was watered systematically to create a rough patch for left-handed batters.
Australias were bundled out on 177 and 91 in the Test while India scored 400 runs on the same surface. The Indian spinners dominated the game and helped the hosts' script innings win. Former Australia cricketer, Ian Chappell has shared his views and advised the Australian players to stay away from all the chatter about the nature of the Indian pitches.
"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. 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," Chappell wrote in his column at ESPNcricinfo.
"The first Test has exposed Australia's weakness against good spin bowling on turning pitches. 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.”
Australia made a bizarre selection in the first Test excluding Travis Head who can also bowl some off-break. Also, Head has been in superb form with the bat in red-ball cricket. Chappell opined that the team selection by the Australian team was a mixture of strange choices and a shocking move.
"The selections in this match were a mixture of brave choices and one that was a head-scratcher. The omission of Travis Head, despite his troubles against good spinners, was difficult to fathom. The choice of offspinner Todd Murphy in his first Test after only seven first-class games was brave. Nevertheless, it also displayed great faith in Murphy's skills," he explained.
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