Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth feels it was good that out-of-form KL Rahul didn’t play in the third Test match against Australia at Indore. Rahul had returned with scores of 20, 17, and 1 in the three innings of the first two Test matches and thus Shubman Gill replaced him in the final XI.
However, Gill also could not grab his opportunity as he was dismissed for scores of 21 and 5. Meanwhile, batting was difficult on the Indore pitch, which was aiding the spinners from the get-go. It was a pure rank-turner and Srikkanth feels Rahul’s confidence would have taken a dent had he played in the third Test match.
Moreover, the Indore pitch was criticized by experts all over the world and it received a ‘poor’ rating from ICC.
“First and foremost, I am happy for KL Rahul. Thankfully, good that he did not play. If he had played on these wickets, and failed to get going in the next two Tests, and if his career had ended… thank god, he didn’t play. Frankly, speaking,” Srikkanth said in his YouTube show.
“On these pitches, batting is very difficult. Whoever it is, batting is difficult. Let it be anybody, be it Virat Kohli, no one can score runs on these pitches. If you looked at it, Kuhnemann, bowling in the first innings, got the ball to rip through and turn square.
“On these wickets, taking wickets is not a big thing. Even if I had bowled, I would have picked up wickets. These are all hard talks, we have to accept them,” he added.
On the other hand, Srikkanth, who was known for his aggressive batting at the top of the order, urged the curators to prepare decent pitches and feels the Indore track was not a good advertisement for Test cricket.
“Not a good advertisement for Test cricket at all. They are doing a mistake. Yes, if you see the 2008 series against Australia. The pitches weren’t rank turners but India would win the series 2-0.
“But here, the ball is turning square from Day 1. It’s hard to watch the batting on these pitches. It’s not good advertisement for Test cricket. There is nothing wrong in having home advantage. But you have to prepare some decent wickets,” he added.
The third Test match will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad from March 9.
