In a heated post-match press conference following India’s historic Test win at Cape Town, Rohit Sharma didn’t hold back in expressing his frustration over the criticism of Indian pitches. India secured a seven-wicket victory in a match that lasted just 107 overs, making it the shortest-ever Test in its 147-year history.
Rohit Sharma addressed the issues surrounding the Newlands wicket, emphasizing that while he and the Indian team had no qualms about playing on such challenging surfaces, he urged critics to refrain from targeting Indian pitches when discussing Test matches.
“I mean, we saw what happened in this match, how the pitch played and stuff like that. I honestly don’t mind playing on pitches like this. As long as everyone keeps their mouth shut in India and doesn’t talk too much about Indian pitches, honestly,” Rohit Sharma asserted passionately.
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The Indian captain called for a more neutral perspective, pointing out the challenges faced in different cricketing nations. He emphasized the need for consistency in evaluating pitches across the globe and urged match referees to refrain from biased ratings.
“When you are put up against a challenge like that, you come and face it. That’s what happens in India. But, in India on day one, if the pitch starts turning, people start talking about ‘Puff of dust! Puff of dust!’ There’s so much crack here on the pitch. People are not looking at that,” Rohit Sharma argued.
Expressing his disbelief at the rating of pitches by the International Cricket Council (ICC), Rohit referred to instances where pitches were criticized without considering the overall conditions. He questioned the practice of rating pitches based on countries and urged the ICC and match referees to assess pitches impartially.
“I still can’t believe that the World Cup final pitch was rated below average. A batsman got a hundred there in the final. How can that be a poor pitch? So these are the things the ICC, the match referees, they need to look into and start rating pitches based on what they see, not based on the countries. I think that’s quite important,” Rohit Sharma remarked critically.
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In conclusion, Rohit Sharma reiterated his support for challenging pitches but stressed the importance of neutrality in evaluating and rating playing surfaces. The Indian captain called on the cricketing community to be fair in their assessments and urged decision-makers to consider the conditions rather than focusing on the country hosting the matches.
