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Cricket Players'When I was with Pakistan, there was this talk about pitches...': Ex-Australia star makes huge remark on India's defeat
The former Australia pacer, who worked with Pakistan as a bowling coach not too long ago, recalled his experience with the Asian side as he talked in detail about India's defeat in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Australia handed India a humbling nine-wicket loss in Indore on Wednesday, opening their account in the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy. With the scoreline now 2-1 in favour of India, the series is poised for an exciting finish in Ahmedabad as a World Test Championship final spot remains at stake for the hosts. Australia qualified for the title clash with the win on a tricky surface at the Holkar Stadium that drew criticism from many former cricketers and fans throughout the Test.
The debates over pitch conditions have been focal to the narrative ever since the Test series began last month, and a significant help to spinners meant the fast bowlers have remained largely in the shadows. In the three Tests so far, Mohammed Siraj has bowled less than 25 overs so far, while Axar Patel, who is playing as a third spinner in the side, bowled 39 overs across three Tests; for comparison, Ravindra Jadeja bowled 32 overs alone in the first innings of the Indore Test.
When former Australia pacer Shaun Tait was asked if the teams can add more batting depth on surfaces such as the one in Indore, the ex-speedster insisted that there's no need to “complicate” selection decisions. Tait also recalled his time as the bowling coach of Pakistan to make his point clearer.
“I guess that's another thing about playing on these wickets,” Tait told ESPNCricinfo in reply to the question.
“It makes selection complicated as well. When you make wickets extreme, all the selection talks are about that. Even the teams get confused about what they should be doing. Everyone is afraid to make mistakes when it comes to selection. I saw it when I spent time with Pakistan on the coaching staff, there was this talk about home wickets and what the conditions should be, which made selectors' job so much harder on trying to understand what the lineup should be,” Tait said.
Tait said there need to be better cricketing conditions for Tests to reach “Day 4 and 5”; all three Tests in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy have finished inside three days.
“I think, try to make a wicket that goes to Day 4 or 5, I think. It just makes your decisions easier as well. So, I think, I wouldn't be changing a hell of a lot in either teams, if you get too complicated. A lot of times, there are one or two players who don't do a lot in these conditions anyway. So, I think complicating selections is a no-no, as we saw with Australia in the first two matches,” said Tait.
