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'Even Tendulkar, Kallis, Lara or Kohli...': India great launches scathing attack on Indore pitch after 3rd Test carnage
The third Test ended in just over two days, as was the case in the first and second matches but this time, it was India who were on the losing side.
Australia turned the tables on India by trapping them in their own favoured spinning conditions in the third Test of the four-match series. They halved India's lead in the series by beating the hosts by nine wickets with their batters fairing much batter than the opposition's on a pitch that offered prodigious turn right from the first hour of the first day. Australia now trail India 2-1 in the four-match series. Their victory on Friday has helped them secure a place in the 2023 World Test Championship Final.
The pitch in Indore for the third Test has been a topic of debate right since the early exchanges of the first day. Former Australia batter Matthew Hayden slammed the pitch for being too lopsided in favour of spinners during the first session of Day 1 while India were collapsing to Matthew Kuhnemann. Now, former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has stated that a pitch such as the one in Indore would have flummoxed even some of the greatest batters to have ever played the game.
"As a batter, it is very difficult to survive even if you have a good defense. You might be (Sachin) Tendulkar, (Jacques) Kallis, Brian Lara or Virat Kohli, even an unknown bowler will dismiss you on this pitch if you play six balls continuously," said Harbhajan on Star Sports.
Harbhajan said that he would like to see Indian bowlers to earn their wickets. "Your batters were not working hard but laboring on this pitch because you didn't know at all where the ball was going. I want your bowlers also to do some hard work because are they capable of winning you the match while defending 250 runs on the fourth or fifth day when there is slight help from the pitch?" he said.
Harbhajan said that while the likes of Nathan Lyon, who took eight wickets in the Indian second innings, and Ravichandran Ashwin are skilled bowlers, he doesn't like the fact that someone Joe Root could get a five-wicket haul on an Indian pitch. Root, who was captaining England at the time, recorded figures of 5/8 in Ahmedabad in a Test match that lasted just two days in February 2021. "Nathan Lyon picked up eight wickets. He is an extremely skilled bowler. R Ashwin is a great bowler but I am troubled when bowlers like Joe Root come and pick up five wickets in five overs. Test wickets are being given to anyone. Your skill should give you the wickets and your skill should score runs," said Harbhajan.
