The Australian cricket team suffered a humiliating defeat in the first test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 which was played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur, and it won’t be wrong to say that with this test match, inability of the Australian batters of playing the spin has been exposed. The Indian spinners completely dominated the match and the Aussie batting line-up may have some big names of the cricket world such as Steve Smith, David Warner, Usman Khawaja, etc. but they just seemed to be lost against the spin.
Before the start of the series, a lot was said and discussed about the Indian pitches on which the Aussies would be playing. The former Aussie cricketer Ian Healy went on to say that if Indians prepare “fair pitches”, then Aussies will win but if they prepare “unfair pitches”, Indians will win. By fair pitches, Ian Healy refers to the pitches which are good for batting, they spin but start spinning much later in the match and by unfair pitches, he means the pitches that support spin from the very first day and ball jumps ridiculously.
Later on, few Australian media channels also alleged that the Nagpur pitch had been doctored in order to give benefit to the Indians and many photos of the Australian cricketers taking a close look of the pitch by kneeling down on it went viral.
However, the manner in which the Indians batted in their first innings, it can easily be said that there was nothing wrong with the pitch and the Aussies gave too much importance to the pitch which was not needed.
The former South African cricketer Dale Steyn also took a jibe at the Australian team in a tweet and though he did not take anybody’s name, it was quite clear that he was talking about the photos in which Steve Smith and other players are seen examining the pitch while kneeling down.
Here is what Dale Steyn tweeted,
“So quick question to you cricket people.
How does one like to read a pitch?
Are you a get down on your knees and almost sniff the pitch person or a general stand and observe from the pitch side?
Lastly. Did it really help you?”
So quick question to you cricket people.
How does one like to read a pitch?
Are you a get down on your knees and almost sniff the pitch person or a general stand and observe from the pitch side?
Lastly. Did it really help you?
— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) February 11, 2023
As far as the match is concerned, Rohit Sharma and company completely overpowered the visitors in all the segments. Australia chose to bat first after winning the toss but managed only 177 runs in its first innings. In response, India posted a total of 400 runs on the score board in its first innings with the help of brilliant knocks of Rohit Sharma (120 runs ), Ravindra Jadeja (70 runs), Axar Patel (84 runs) and Mohammed Shami (37 runs). After trailing by 223 runs, Australia got wrapped up at 91 runs in its second innings and India won the match by an innings and 132 runs.
Ravindra Jadeja was adjudged as the Player of the Match as he took 5 wickets and also contributed with the bat.
What do you think of Dale Steyn’s cryptic tweet? Share your views with us.
