Nothing wrong with Tests finishing in three days: Ravi Shastri
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NEW DELHI: India team director Ravi Shastri sees nothing wrong in Tests finishing inside three days and suggested South Africa could expect another rank turner in the fourth and final fixture in Delhi next week.
India humbled South Africa with two days to spare in the series-opener at Mohali before repeating the feat in another dustbowl in Nagpur on Friday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series against the world's top ranked Test team.
Forty wickets tumbled in Nagpur with Indian opener Murali Vijay's 40 the top individual score in the low-scoring contest that followed the rained-out second Test in Bangalore.
Visiting captain Hashim Amla could not remember if he had faced more challenging conditions but Shastri was unapologetic about the tracks India have rolled out in the series.
“Nothing wrong with it,” the former all-rounder told ESPNcricinfo.
“I would hope the one in Delhi is absolutely the same. I have no qualms about it.
“It just goes to show that with the amount of one-day cricket being played, the tendency to graft, the tendency to spend long hours at the crease is diminishing.
“(The pitch was) absolutely not (a problem).
“It's on both sides — You have to stop cribbing and get on with the job at hand,” added Shastri.
Far from being worried about Tests finishing prematurely, Shastri said he would prefer such results to run feasts like that in Perth, where Australia and New Zealand scored a combined 1,672 runs in the drawn second Test recently.
“Nothing wrong with that (matches finishing inside three days).
“It (Nagpur) was a Test match that was moving all the time. You compare this Test to the Test match in Perth, I would pay money for a ticket for this game —To hell with the five days.”
On a track that offered prodigious turn from day one, the Indian spinners claimed all 20 South African wickets in Nagpur, offie Ravichandran Ashwin taking 12 alone.
Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell called the pitch “diabolical” while compatriot and former opener Matthew Hayden termed it “Bunsen Burner”, a slang for a turner.
“Let them sit in Australia and talk about their pitches. Tell them not to waste their time about Indian tracks. Come and play here,” said Shastri.
“Which rule tells me that a ball can't turn on day one? Where does it tell me in the rulebook it can only swing and seam?” he added.
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Comments (78) Closed
Nov 29, 2015 02:33pm
"nothing wrong"? Loss of revenue of 2 days not good enough reason?
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Nov 29, 2015 02:36pm
If the ball can't turn on day 1, then it should not bounce or swing on day 1 too. Stop cribbing. Instead work on your technique.
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Nov 29, 2015 02:45pm
Home lions can't even defeat BD outside India. History speaks louder than your claims.
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Nov 29, 2015 03:05pm
Nothing wrong with the wicket as long India wins the match and 30 wickets fall in one day. Please stop this crap as everyone knows that this was a substandard cricket pitch tailored for Indian spinners. Indians need to be fair, but these days under the banner of shiny India, everything goes as long as India is the winner. No morals, no principals, no ethics but money talks. India has started acting like a bully no different from old colonial mentality. What a shame as Ghandi will be crying in his grave so to speak.
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Nov 29, 2015 03:17pm
he should have resigned had india been on receiving end... now india is becoming "intolerant" in cricket as well.
let's see how saf will greet ind on SAF pitches... indians will scream, jump, hop, weep, cry, yell, get inured and surrender/ concede the test.... we all remember india conceded a test match in WI in 1975 on a coward plea that west indians are short pitching. advantage, home team. so, be it. I hope indians was not become weeping baby on their next tour in saf. kohli, you too will not weep.
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Nov 29, 2015 03:25pm
If a pitch starts turning on day one, im sure its not fit for test cricket.
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Nov 29, 2015 03:29pm
@Philosopher (from Japan)
"Home lions can't even defeat BD outside India. History speaks louder than your claims"
Very soon you get reply in Srilanka
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Nov 29, 2015 03:37pm
@Angry Pitbull Go look at the head to heads. You might get your answer.
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Nov 29, 2015 03:44pm
@Shahid "If a pitch starts turning on day one, im sure its not fit for test cricket"
In which cricket rules book it is mentioned?
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Nov 29, 2015 03:50pm
@Angry Pitbull I didnt say its mentioned in a rule book. I just said for runs to be scored the pitch on the first few days is usually quite hard.
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Nov 29, 2015 03:50pm
@Angry Pitbull ............... your coward govt is not willing to play us at all.... so keep day dreaming to better us in TESTS/ ODIS/T20s. we are far ahead in all three formats check records how many times you have be humbled by Pak in all formats.... away or home.... btw where's that chetan sharma whom great Javed his famous Sharjah sixer... you cannot forget that I know.
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Nov 29, 2015 03:57pm
o shastri come on......... don act like your novice playing days. you should say we have spinners we prepared wickets to suit them... btw your pacers are hardly pacier, may be a yard or two quicker than your ashwin and mishras........ shastri do you know asshwin has a bowling avg of 56 in aug, 108 in saf and ran away from nz. so what are you talking about ?. you call it win, keep calling them. it was not wicket you prepared you call is dust bowl...... where even ganguly or dhawan could take lot of wickets.... on such wickets you just need a person who can throw the ball on the other end and let the ball talk.... this way you can increase wickets for ashwin, mishra and discarded jadeja.... but you can never ever win a test in aus, nz, eng, saf and even Pak.
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Nov 29, 2015 04:01pm
@ HARMONY-1©
"nothing wrong"? Loss of revenue of 2 days
not good enough reason?
pride matters most than money
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Nov 29, 2015 04:04pm
@ailly but you can never ever win a test
in aus, nz, eng, saf and even Pak.
first let PCB manage some cricket in Pakistan and then crib upon
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Nov 29, 2015 04:12pm
@ailly
Same thing applicable
AUS,NZ, ENG, SAF and even PAK can never ever win a test in India
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Nov 29, 2015 04:21pm
Aus-NZ test also finished in three days.
How is that different.
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Nov 29, 2015 04:41pm
@Angry Pitbull ....................... lolz how many times india drew a series in Aus, Pak did so 3 times, ind once ... we beat eng in eng 5 times, ind once.... we beat nz in nz 4 times, ind never. saf we drew once, ind never ........... and can never ever. we beat ind in ind 3 times in a series and ind once. we beat sl in sl 6 time,s you did once.... so what are you talking about ?. just admit india is becoming "intolerant" in cricket as well.
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Nov 29, 2015 04:47pm
t seems like its not Shastri but an ego of Big 3 is speaking. Had South Africa won toss in the test matches Amla would also certainly have elected to bat first. Both Test matches would still have finished inside three days. More than likely both test matches SA would have won. I wonder if Shastri would have been still so gung ho about Indian pitches?? I
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Nov 29, 2015 04:49pm
@Angry Pitbull ....................
bangalore 1987 pak win by sweet sixteen runs,
chennai 1999 pak won by 12 ( thank tendulkar for scoring a century and we won )
sharjah ? yes ......... Javed hit famous six.
calcutta 1987 .... Salim Malik win for Pak ( my God, 72 runs in 36 balls were required )
beat any of above wins........... and live with those teasing moments........
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Nov 29, 2015 04:51pm
shastri is doing to indian cricket what modi is doing to indian politics.
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Nov 29, 2015 05:22pm
I agree with Shastri. When a match finishes in 3 days on a fast,bouncy track its fine and when it does the same on a spinning track all hell breaks loose
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Nov 29, 2015 05:26pm
@Shahid ... R u reqally sure??
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Nov 29, 2015 05:27pm
@ailly dear friend stop living in the past. We have seen ur current team. In the world cup even younnis ffell to indian bouncers. I am not even comparing the indian fielding running between wickets & fitness standards with pakistani team.
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Nov 29, 2015 05:31pm
@ailly what's your world cup matches record against india? :):)
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Nov 29, 2015 06:01pm
@Krindra .......... how about Sharjah bashing where you just won 3 out of 37 matches ?
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Nov 29, 2015 06:15pm
how many times india drew a series in Aus, Pak did so 3 times, ind once ... we beat eng in eng 5 times, ind once.... we beat nz in nz 4 times, ind never. saf we drew once, ind never ........... and can never ever. we beat ind in ind 3 times in a series and ind once. we beat sl in sl 6 time,s you did once.... so what are you talking about ?. just admit india is becoming "intolerant" in cricket as well.
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Nov 29, 2015 06:33pm
That coming from Someone who recently fought with the curator for preparing a pitch that did not suit Indian spinners.
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Nov 29, 2015 06:57pm
Today the 3rd test match between Australia and New Zealand finished on the third day. With a result. I don't see anyone complaining.
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Nov 29, 2015 06:59pm
@Philosopher (from Japan) - If you remember, Pakistan too lost a series against BD in BD just a few months before India did.
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Nov 29, 2015 07:02pm
why people support only batsman only ..support bowler also pls.
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Nov 29, 2015 07:04pm
@Sandeep - "pride matters most than money". Really? That's a sea change coming from you! Only when it suits you though! Would you have said the same if it was another country finishing the tests in 3 days?
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Nov 29, 2015 07:06pm
Indians history has produced big spinners. The soil and ground is made for ball to stick. We never claim to have imran,akram,waqar or other pace battery. Kapil is the only baller we have had so far and even he was not a world class. If match becomes longer people have problem if shorter people have problem. I don't think it's cricket I think it young Indian team people had problem with. Point to be noted we have won all crickets honors twice mostly with second string players where world has all but written us out. Avg. age of our team is 27, they are mentally strong,positive,skilled athletes,world hates that,they going to be kings in next three four years. Get used to it. Bd and India are next two power house of cricket.
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Nov 29, 2015 07:08pm
@Philosopher (from Japan) you should read newspaper s and update your knowledge. India just defeated SL in a test series and also won 1 test in england
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Nov 29, 2015 07:18pm
Cool it Guys, we all know India had the Pitch tailored made this is not the First time and certainly not the last time.
So no use fighting over it.
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Nov 29, 2015 07:35pm
@sandeep these people think money is more important than anything.waste of time to explain to them.
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Nov 29, 2015 07:43pm
@Philosopher (from Japan) Are you talking about 1999 World Cup game vs Bangladesh ??????????
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Nov 29, 2015 07:45pm
@Angry Pitbull atleast India managed to win last game and Pakistan was white washed in Bangladesh
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Nov 29, 2015 07:49pm
Destroying the game by making pitches like these, people come to a game to watch good cricket and not one sided contest
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Nov 29, 2015 08:28pm
@Harmony-1© u don't have to bother about the revenue for BCCI and sponsors, they can took care of it in better way.
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Nov 29, 2015 08:34pm
@ailly. Hope u haven't forget all world cups and wasim, waqar, and akhtar all humbled by sachin and veeru ...
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Nov 29, 2015 08:41pm
@ailly completely wrong info do some research before posting.
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Nov 29, 2015 08:56pm
@Angry Pitbull - "..AUS,NZ, ENG, SAF and even PAK can never ever win a test in India.."
Well, you need to to read a bit more on cricket to make sure that you are talking sense. Pakistan has won more test and ODI games in India than India has in Pakistan.
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Nov 29, 2015 09:11pm
I heard Indians cheated a lot. Man, I jut saw how they cheat. You call that a pitch? There were dark shades in the pitch that can be seen from the moon. Should have been used for World War and not Cricket.
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Nov 29, 2015 09:19pm
@Rage - Ok, so you can "bother" to tell us the "better way" out???
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Nov 29, 2015 09:22pm
Shastri patronising and arrogant. The beauty of test cricket lies in the fine balance between ball and bat. Neither the Perth wicket nor this pitch may be considered favourable for test cricket
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Nov 29, 2015 09:26pm
Looks funny to see people include Gandhi . india atlease wins at home. What about pakistan ?
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Nov 29, 2015 09:43pm
@Angry Pitbull In 1999 Pakistan Level the series 1-1 so please dont comment here if you don't know.
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Nov 29, 2015 09:50pm
Hard to believe when good players like shastri saying like that (Wah Paisa Wah)
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Nov 29, 2015 10:17pm
'Nothing Wrong' in not paying much attesntion to disillusioned Ravi Shastri.
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Nov 29, 2015 11:20pm
Pak and India two different countries. Cricket is passion in both countries people acts like they own teams. Negative comments from both side hurt cricket spirit and they are not playing with each other. Why would any body from pak give comment on Indians test and Visa versa. Both countries got more problems than they can handle. Good news is rare in both sides. If some thing good happens let it be. The way the fans behave there should be no series between teams.
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Nov 30, 2015 12:24am
Let's suppose South Africa had better spinners than India, would they still have prepared the same pitch? This is just tactical pitch doctoring to give the home side an unfair advantage.
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Nov 30, 2015 01:56am
@Philosopher (from Japan) "Home lions can't even defeat BD outside India."
Tails wagging so soon, even before Pakistan becomes No. 1 in tests? Maybe you can do well to remember that India was in the first two test spots for more than five years before this young team. Let us see how long Pakistan retains its test ranking once Misbah retires.. Keep blustering.
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Nov 30, 2015 02:19am
@Shahid ...I hope you are not talking about world cup encounters :)
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Nov 30, 2015 02:31am
'Nothing wrong' as far as you are winning.
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Nov 30, 2015 05:14am
I like his attitude, i watched the Perth match, totally agree with Shastri that I would rather pay money to watch Nagpur match. Mind you India had its own issues with spin as well despite them being the best players of spin. All countries play to their strengths why can our countries not? As they say all is fair in love an war...
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Nov 30, 2015 05:52am
Stop blaming the pitch. Mind, both team play on the same pitch.
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Nov 30, 2015 06:34am
Provided India is not at receiving end
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Nov 30, 2015 07:06am
Yes, as long as India wins. If Ind loses then there will be a fight on the cards with Curator. Mr. Shastri had a fight with the curators when India los chasing 435 in an ODI against SA
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Nov 30, 2015 08:08am
@Jawad how can you forget mike gatting shakur rana episode on cheating
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Nov 30, 2015 09:07am
@Philosopher (from Japan) Yes BD, Pakistan and Afghanistan would easily beat India
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Nov 30, 2015 09:08am
Now they will flood the whole world by statements.
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Nov 30, 2015 09:08am
@kanwarch Both teams played on the same pitch and both teams had spin bowlers!
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Nov 30, 2015 09:14am
AUSTRALIA prepared fast pitches when their fasties were in good form.
PAKiSTAN has prepared bouncy wickets when IMRAN / WASIM/ SHOAIB/ WAQAR were on a rampage.
So as South Africa.
When INDiA prepares a spinning wicket, all have a problem
Don't they (SA) have good spinners like IMRAn TAHiR ??, then why complain.
Track is same for both the teams.Let's play, let's challenge it. rather crying!!
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Nov 30, 2015 09:30am
@sandeep buddy you forgot Pakistan is number 2 in test ranking. India is so scared of playing Pakistan in UAE. Please make these sort of pitches when India playing Pakistan.
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Nov 30, 2015 10:00am
@ailly World cup is the tournament always to remember in world cricket... Who cares about Sharjah ;-)
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Nov 30, 2015 11:10am
Look forward to Ravi saying the same thing when India is bundled out twice inside three days on absolute green tops in England, and WACA-like wickets specially prepared at every Test venue in Australia when India visit. World cricket will collapse due to lack of revenue; board's of control cannot go on relying on broadcast rights to pay all the bills.
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Nov 30, 2015 11:25am
Those equating the three-day finish on the disgrace of a Test pitch in Nagpur with the three-day finish in Adelaide are displaying their ignorance. The pitch in Adelaide was a worthy, competitive Test pitch. The BIG difference was it was the first ever day-night Test with a PINK ball that swung more once the lights came on. Lost of wickets fell for both sides in the evening/night sessions. Nothing to do with the pitch itself. It was a great, evenly contest battle marred by a shocking decision by the third umpire (Nigel Long of England) who gave Nathan Lyon not out when he was clearly out as shown by hot spot. That allowed Australia two late partnerships that won the game, but the Kiwis fought magnificently and deserved to win. I say this as an Australian, and not, thank goodness, as a one-eyed supporter like Ravi Shastri and others on here.
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Nov 30, 2015 11:35am
@Inditramp
It is different coz the match was competitive not one sided. Australia only won the match by three wickets in a close call.
Where as Ind vs SAF was a shame.
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Nov 30, 2015 11:37am
@Cricketcoment
Forget it mate India can only win home matches on spin pitches. So your so called young players are only tigers in their home and not outside
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Nov 30, 2015 11:46am
@Philosopher (from Japan) Defeated Sri Lanka.BD survived coz of rain.
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Nov 30, 2015 11:48am
@ailly U are beaten hands down in all world cup as well in all format.
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Nov 30, 2015 12:24pm
@Cricket@pak • India has won Champions trophy in England in 2013 where Pakistan finished last, Won a World Cup in UK, Won T20 World Cup in South Africa, won U19 World cup in Australia beating home side Australia in pool match and easy final, Won another U19 World cup in Malaysia; won 3 way series in West Indies that included Sri Lanka , thrashed Zimbabwe in Harare 5-0 thrashed England 4-1 whitewash in their recent tour of England!. Recently in world cup -Thrashed Pakistan in Adelaide by 86 runs ,, Easily beat South Africa in Melbourne by 140 runs , beat Windies in Perth India won by 4 wickets (with 65 balls remaining), easily accounted for Bangladesh in Melbourne. Beat Zimbabwe 4-0 in July 2015! Beat SL in SL 2-1
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Nov 30, 2015 12:25pm
@Sami AND Australia is scared of Bangladesh!
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Nov 30, 2015 12:30pm
OK pitch should be favor to home team but this pitch is dead even one century didn't score in 3 matches.
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Nov 30, 2015 02:00pm
To be a world class team one need to adopt to all conditions. Definitely India uses its advantage of Spin wicket to defeat SA team. But the same Indian team poorly beaten when put on bouncy or swinging pitch. So SA needs to develop technique to master the spin if they wanted to be the champion as team India is hero only on it soil and would be quite content for decades.
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Nov 30, 2015 04:21pm
I have no problems with the pitches that BCCI produce for its team.
When it swings and bounce, there is no problem. It seems that people want to take spin out of Test cricket.
England won their last series in India. Monty and Swann were good bowlers and India lost. Had SA any decent spinners, they would have won the matches as well. Or if they could bat against spin just a little better.
I'd love to see Shah, Rehman on these pitches though .. :)
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Nov 30, 2015 04:25pm
India should always feed SA / England / Australia with these turners - ALWAYS.
Pakistan - India - Srilanka visits England & Australia .
They always had tough time against swing , Seam in England.
Pace & Bounce in Australia.
Commentators / Experts / Analyst always calls for better technique , patience bla bla
for poor batting displays.
Never ever mentioned good supporting pitches for Test Matches to last 4- 5 days.
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Nov 30, 2015 07:27pm
@AXH .
That is because when India toured Pakistan you were playing with 14 players.
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