Legendary Sunil Gavaskar took a dig at the Sydney track for the fifth Test match between India and Australia in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series. Australia has laid out a green pitch which had a lot of seam movement for the fast bowlers on the opening day and Gavaskar noted that cricket experts would have criticized if India had given a turning pitch while playing at home.
The Little Master highlighted no former Indian player is whining about the SCG pitch, which has a lot of green grass. Despite the green track, Indian captain Jasprit Bumrah decided to bat first after winning the toss.
The visitors were bundled out for 185 runs on the opening day with Rishabh Pant top-scoring with 40 runs. Historically, SCG pitch is known to be a batting paradise but it was not the case on Friday.
Sunny Gavaskar said on Star Sports, “Justin Langer, who’s played in Australia, has said he’s never seen so much grass on a pitch. But what you would have noticed is that no former Indian player has complained or whined about it. If a pitch in India is bereft of grass and looks like it’s going to turn, so many former players from different parts of the world criticize our pitches. But former Indian players rarely complain because we understand the importance of adapting to overseas conditions.”
Gavaskar further shared his surprise with the amount of grass that was left by the curator on the SCG pitch.
“I haven’t seen so much grass on a Sydney pitch in the past. Probably, the grass cover is on the higher side compared to other pitches in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. The batting is tough, and the visiting batters are not able to connect the bat with the ball. Cows would have grazed confidently on the pitch in Sydney,” said Gavaskar.
Australia lost the early wicket of Usman Khawaja on the final ball of the first day’s play.
