“Straight-up Doctoring,” Australian Experts Claim On Nagpur Pitch, Request ICC Intervention

After reviewing the pitch, Steve Smith stated on Tuesday: “It’s fairly dry. Specifically, one end. I believe it will take some spin, particularly from the left-arm spinners, to get it back into our left-handers.”

Every time a Test series is held in India, accusations are levelled that the hosts are preparing a wicket that is overwhelmingly favourable to them. With just one day until India and Australia begin their Border-Gavaskar series in Nagpur, a few Australian ‘experts’ have accused India of ‘doctoring’ the pitch to suit their team. A few pictures of the pitch surfaced on social media on Tuesday, with Steve Smith suggesting that the wicket was ‘pretty dry’. The Australian batter also went into detail, implying that left-arm spinners are likely to get a lot of help. Back in Australia, some former cricketers and experts have called for the International Cricket Council to step in.

Reporters on the ground claimed that only the centre of the Nagpur wicket was watered and rolled, leaving the area targeted by left-handers dry.

Such a step was reportedly taken at both ends of the wicket, prompting accusations of an attempt to make things difficult for left-handers such as David Warner, Usman Khawaja, and Travis Head.

If something isn’t right, the ICC, according to Simon O’Donnell, should step in and investigate.

“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 when it comes to India, we have all of these discussions and nothing seems to happen.

“If they truly believe there is a pitch here that does not play to the normal standards of test cricket and the characteristics of this ground,” he added.

Because the pitch is dry, spinners will understandably benefit from the surface. As a result, the Indian team is reportedly planning to field three spinners in the playing XI.