India v Australia first Test news: Poll voters label Nagpur pitch doctors ‘cheats’

Former Test greats have united to condemn the Indian pitch doctors following evidence Nagpur curators have tried to deliberately sabotage Australia. See the shocking poll results.

India produce a very odd pitch in Nagpur.

Former Australian Test greats have called for the International Cricket Council to take action to ensure the pitch doctoring farce in Nagpur is never repeated.

Evidence out of India that curators have tried to deliberately sabotage Australia’s army of left-hand batsmen with their pitch preparations ahead of the first Test has sparked outrage about the sharp practice being allegedly employed by the home side to gain an advantage.

More than 90 per cent of voters in a News Corp poll canvassing more than 5200 people said the manipulation of the pitch constituted ‘cheating.’

Australia captain Pat Cummins weighed in on the pitch doctoring fiasco that threatens to overshadow the first Test, refusing to condemn India for the extraordinary pitch preparations that took place on Monday.

“I think that’s part of the challenge of playing away,” Cummins said. “Home teams want to win at home. In Australia we’re lucky we’ve got pace and bounce. But home match advantage I don’t think it’s a terrible thing.

“It’s just another challenge and it’s makes touring over here even harder when you know that the conditions are custom made for them.”

But a handful of cricket greats weren’t as diplomatic as the Aussie skipper.

Bare patches on the Nagpur pitch.

Curators seen rolling parts of the pitch.

Former Test star Brendon Julian – who will headline Fox Cricket’s exclusive coverage of the Indian tour starting on Thursday afternoon – believes the staggering pictures out of Nagpur should prompt the International Cricket Council to ban cricket boards from having any dialogue with groundsmen.

“If you get a pitch that suddenly looks like it’s bare at one end or bare at a strategic area which is uncharacteristic of the rest of the pitch, then I would think it’s definitely pushing the boundaries (of what’s acceptable),” Julian told News Corp.

“I’m all for pitches that swing and seam if you’re in Australia or turn if you’re in India – that’s what you expect. But when you look at the pitch and go, ‘wow, there’s a certain area outside the off-stump or on a good length that looks very bare – then I think it’s pushing the boundaries.

“I’m a big believer that the pitch should be left to the groundsman and the groundsman should just do whatever he does and that’s his job. Cricket boards shouldn’t turn around and go ‘I want the pitch to do this.’

“Why should cricket boards get involved in the preparation of pitches? That’s not their job. I don’t agree with groundsmen being told what to do. To me, that’s doctoring the pitch.”

Former Australian all-rounder Simon O’Donnell agreed that the ICC needs to stand up to India and take action in the interest of fairness – but fears they won’t.

“The ICC should step in and do something about it, if they think it’s not right,” O’Donnell said on SEN Breakfast.

“If they think the pitch is not right, there’ll be an ICC referee at the game and the ICC will be watching this game.

“But there’s so many when it comes to India, we have all of these discussions, and nothing seems to happen.”

Interesting treatment of the pitch in Nagpur. The groundstaff watered the entire centre of the surface & only the length areas outside the left-hander’s leg stump & then rolled only the centre, stopping short every time they got to the good length areas at both ends #IndvAuspic.twitter.com/Myr2ZblqCg

— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) February 7, 2023

Australian left-handed batting great Mike Hussey – also part of Fox Cricket’s exclusive coverage of the series – agreed the pitch preparation was potentially pushing the envelope but said Pat Cummins’ team simply had to accept the situation and not be consumed by it.

Hussey said extreme conditions should be expected when you go to the sub-continent – and teams can either set themselves for the ultimate challenge or spook themselves before a ball is bowled.

“You know they’re going to produce pitches that are probably in the favour of the home team and again suit the spinners and try and prepare conditions that are most foreign to what we’re used to over here in Australia with our fast and bouncier pitches,” Hussey said.

“The Indians, they’ll quite openly say they feel like we doctor wickets by producing wickets that have too much grass, too much moisture and suit our players. They’ll say it is a bit of a tit for tat thing.

“It’s not going to be easy but you’ve still got to go in with a positive attitude and have a clear plan on how you’re going to go about it. And then you’re just going to have to do the best you can.

“Even their players will find it hard on those sort of tracks as well.

“I had Ricky (Ponting) as my captain for most of (my tours to the sub-continent) and we pretty much always took the positive route and had the positive talk around the team. There was no real room for excuses.”

Test great Jason Gillespie, part of Australia’s triumphant 2004 touring team to India, said it was a sign the Indians were genuinely threatened by Cummins’ team.

“I think the Indian curators are looking at a way for India to have an advantage,” Gillespie told SEN WA Breakfast.

“They potentially think spin will play a huge role and that for the best chance to beat Australia will be to play to their strength.”