Cricket world tear ‘beyond embarrassing’ third Test pitch to shreds

Australia had an exceptional first session of the third Test against India at Indore but the cricket world has lashed out at the conditions.

The third Test pitch between Australia and India at Indore has been hammered by the cricket world after an incredible start to the match.

India won the toss and batted but at the drinks break after the first hour of play, the home side was already 5/45 down.

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And it could have been even better for the Aussies after Mitchell Starc was denied twice in the first over, after seemingly drawing an edge with his first ball and an LBW with his fourth ball.

Australia refused to review either and Starc remained wicketless.

In a short burst for the quicks however, there was interesting developments as the pitch puffed up under the quicks, showing how loose the surface was on a good length for the spinners.

Matt Kuhnemann was in the attack after just five overs and had instant success, while Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy also quickly joined the party.

Variable bounce, the most turn of any pitch so far this series and a rapidly ageing pitch have all already played a part as the Aussie spinners had a field day.

The degree of spin was already highlighted with 4.8 degrees of turn already at Indore — at Nagpur it was just 2.5 degrees and 3.8 in Dehli.

Despite Australia’s great start, Matthew Hayden was less than thrilled with the pitch.

“This is why I’ve got a problem with these conditions. There’s no way in the world that a spin bowler should come on in the sixth over,” Hayden said on Fox Cricket.

“4.8 degrees, that’s massive turn. That’s the sort of turn you’d expect day three. You’ve got to give batters a chance … Day one, day two should be about batting.”

Former Indian quick Ajit Agarkar called it a “spin bowler’s paradise”.

Nathan Lyon was loving it. Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

But Hayden said “it shouldn’t be keeping low and turning a mile on day one”.

“Forget the result, don’t worry about if Australia win or lose or India win or lose, it shouldn’t be like that in Test match cricket,” he added.

Earlier, Hayden had said it was already looking like a “day three-type wicket” on day one with big cracks already opening up.

Although Hayden conceded it was “entertaining cricket”, the pitch looked much older than a pitch just over an hour into a Test match.

“My point is that the Test should not be moving along this quickly,” Hayden said.

“You’re allowed to have a four, five day Test match. Otherwise call it what it is and we’ll just play three-dayers.

“The game moving at this pace, you feel sorry for the fans who try and work out what their tickets are going to be on day four.”

Mark Waugh said the pitch was “not up to Test standard”.

And cricket fans from both nations were less than thrilled by the conditions.

Nine’s Tom Rehn posted: “I absolutely love low scoring test matches and think generally too much favours the batters. But taking alliances out of it, this test pitch is beyond embarrassing. A match designed to last 5 days will be lucky to last 2.”

Kuhnemann was on fire. Photo by Sajjad HUSSAIN / AFP

Former Aussie spinner Brad Hogg joked: “One day test match anyone?”

Sports editor at India’s ABP News GS Vivek wrote: “What are the chances that this pitch too will be rated “average” by the #ICC match referee? Who will compensate if Indore and it’s curator losing their reputation catering to patriotic sentiments of a turning track.”

ABC Sport’s Akash Fotedar tweeted: “I’m all for turning pitches, different conditions around the world etc. Nothing wrong with the pitches in the first two Test matches, but right now the pitch in Indore seems like a lottery. That’s not good.”

Deputy editor at India Today Rahul Rawat commented: “It’s a dust bowl in Indore, the cleanest city in the country. Ball’s already turning square and it’s been just one hour into the match.”

Indian journalist Karan Sethi added: “Test cricket in India is the reason Test cricket is dying.”

In 1997, an India - Sri Lanka game in Indore was called off because of a bad pitch and the teams played an exhibition game. This pitch isn't unsafe but pretty close to it being rated bad imo. All kinds of shambles.

— Swaroop Swaminathan (@arseinho) March 1, 2023

22-Yard Dynamite at Indore. 200 looks like a winning 1st inning score. Would be interesting to see if Ashwin & Axar can bail out India with bat again...#IndvsAuspic.twitter.com/EkoCFOiFDs

— Aman Dhall (@amandhall25) March 1, 2023