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Sunil Gavaskar Demands A Competitive Pitch In the Ahmedabad Test
By CricShots - Mar 6, 2023 1:12 pm
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Legendary Indian cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar has reserved some stern comments for Team India and the Indian curators, ahead of the fourth Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023. The fourth Test is scheduled to be played at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, from March 9, 2023. India is currently having an unassailable 2-1 lead over the Australians.

Indian batters
The Indian batters failed in the Indore Test

However, even after having successfully retained the coveted trophy for the fourth consecutive time, India is yet to qualify for the all-important World Test Championship final. 

During a recent chat with India Today, Sunil Gavaskar said, “I think there has to be a little more thought on that. This pitch backfired in 2012-13 when Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar spun England to a win. I don’t think it’s a great idea to have pitches of this quality. You want to have pitches where there is a good balance between bat and ball.”

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He further explained, “You want to have a pitch where for the first couple of days, the new-ball bowlers can get some help and the batters can play through the line and score runs. And then from Day 3 and 4, the ball is going to turn a little bit.”

Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar

The former Indian skipper was one of the cricketing experts to have been very critical of the type of surfaces being used in the ongoing Test series. However, he also opined that it was pretty much essential to have pitches where there is fair and equal competition between both the bat and ball.

Sunil Gavaskar went on to state that irrespective of the result of the final Test of the 4-match series, the Ahmedabad pitch had to be a neutral one in order to avoid getting any demerit points yet again by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

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Explaining the same, Sunil Gavaskar said, “I don’t know what’s going to happen in Ahmedabad. If the pitch in Ahmedabad is a raging turner, then India might go on to win but once again, the pitch might get demerit points.”