Andrew McDonald, Australian coach expressed his view of the Indore pitch after it received a poor rating from ICC, the Holkar Cricket Stadium pitch offered a huge turn and uneven bounce right from the start, where visitors bowled out India for just 109 runs in the first innings.
Australian coach initially was reluctant to comment on the ICC verdict but took a dig at India later-
“I mean, our job is to play on the pitch. So whatever they roll up, our job is to problem-solve what’s in front of us. So that’s for others to work through.
“I mean the ICC are…yeah, they give every pitch a rating and they gave this one a poor. So you know we don’t talk when they give it a good rating. So it’s up to them how they want to navigate through that. So the conditions were extreme. I think they’ve been extreme for all three test matches,” McDonald answered reporters in Indore.
JUST IN: the Indore pitch for the third #INDvAUS Test has been rated as 'poor' by the ICC pic.twitter.com/rKZXgwDdyP
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) March 3, 2023
Following the third game of BGT, the ICC gave a ‘poor’ rating to the pitch and also handed it 3 demerit points. The match Referee for the Indore Test match, Chris Broad submitted his assessment of the Indore track after the match ended on 3rd March in the morning session, “The pitch, which was very dry, did not provide a balance between bat and ball, favouring spinners from the start” put forward by match referee in his report.
“Yeah mentally draining on the players, on everyone involved, I think, and even the fans, I think, would have went through that as well. You know to win in that style as well with Travis (Head) and Marnus (Labuschagne) at the end there,”
“That probably went against the whole trend of the game. One down for 78 to get home was an incredible achievement. And I think the validation of the players is that the plans and the method in the way that we go about it can work. And that was proven that last few days,” said the Australian coach on the last match victory.
Batsmen from both sides struggled to time the ball as Australia bowled out India twice in two days while also being bowled out by the hosts. The highest score by a batter in all four innings was Usman Khwaja’s 60 runs in their first innings.
While in the match, Australia bowled out India for 109 and 163 runs mark. whereas the home side, dismissed the Steve Smith-led side for 197 runs which saw them pick the last 6 wickets for just 11 runs. On Day 3, Australia chased down the target of 76 runs by losing just 1 wicket to win the contest by 9 wickets.
All three test matches in BGT ended on Day 3 from Nagpur to Delhi and Indore, it will be interesting to see the surface of the fourth and last test of BGT 2023. Alongside, Men in Blue needs to win the upcoming match to qualify for the WTC Final in England. Rohit Sharma-led side will take on Australia for the fourth test of BGT at Ahmedabad on 9th March.