Australia v India 3rd Test: Hosts unravel as unpredictable wicket proves day one nightmare

The homemade decks India’s players want are not like the ones presented for the third Test in Indore on Wednesday, and the doctored wicket proved their undoing, writes Robert Craddock.

Doctoring a Test wicket is a delicate business.

In India, the homemade decks the players want are not the at times devious, crumbling creation which created mayhem on day one of the third Test in Indore.

They want the “in between’’ decks. The ones which take turn but not crazy turn.

These “in between’’ decks help India’s spinners because, while they don’t hand wickets to them on a platter, local knowledge helps in the Indians out-bowl overseas tourists.

And their batsmen generally know how to grind out solid totals better than tourists not used to turning decks.

But the one type of deck the locals fear is the “lottery’’ deck. The ones like Indore which nullify the benefits of local knowledge makes it a deck on which all sorts of crazy things can happen.

Crazy things happened in Indor: like rookie spinner Matthew Kuhnemann taking a five-wicket haul. Picture: Getty

The Australians, to the credit, seized their chance, bowled well with Matthew Kuhnemann exceptional.

The Indore deck did not look like an accident.

Much like the other two decks in the series it was green in the middle and dryer than desert sands at both ends – and cracking like a car window with a stone through it.

Match referee Chris Broad is likely to be scathing of it but dodgy deck cricket is nothing if not compelling to watch.

Most cricket in the world today is white-ball cricket where batsmen are kings and bowlers slaves.

Cricket is never seriously damaged when the balance tilts violently the other way.

Every ball seems like an event. It’s wonderful theatre.

Virat Kohli batted masterfully for India, but couldn’t stop the carnage. Picture: AFP

If India lose the Test by overcooking the deck then they will deserve no sympathy. If they win it they deserve limited praise.

Kuhnemann’s success was a great reward for a young bowler who has quietly worked on his craft and improved by the year since he was chosen as an Australian Under-19 teammate of Matt Renshaw.

He success was richly celebrated by his Queensland Bulls teammates who regard him as one of their finest team-men. They sent him off with a special cake the night before he was rushed to India early in the tour.

Todd Murphy also got in on the act for Australia. Picture: AFP

He and Todd Murphy were sent to Chennai last year for a special camp to improve their knowledge of Indian conditions and that turned out to be a masterstroke.

“We’d borrow a couple of Indian batters and bowlers to be on our team and talk to them while we were in the nets,’’ Kuhnemann told Code Sports.

“They’d come together and give us tips about whether our release point should be a bit lower or higher, should our palm be up when bowling the ball.

“We lived and breathed cricket for a couple of weeks, and it was awesome.”

And very worthwhile.

Watch Australia’s Tour of India. Every Test & ODI live & ad-break free during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >