Poor Kotla pitch took shine away from India's series win over Australia, says former Pakistan captain
Pakistan cricket legend Javed Miandad reckons the sub-standard pitch rolled out for the fourth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar series in Delhi has taken away the sheen from India’s 4-0 series victory over Australia.
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“This has to be dealt with sternly by the authorities. You cannot make a mockery of Test cricket. Remember, both teams were not playing some friendly match.u00a0
When the wicket is uneven, it becomes unplayable and we saw that happening in the Delhi Test,” remarked Miandad, who was part of the Pakistan team which whitewashed Australia in 1982-83.
He continued: “How can you judge true performance in such a scenario? Good wickets give rise to good cricket and we didn’t get to see it in the last Test.”
Sixteen wickets fell on the third day of the Test that ended in India’s favour inside three days. “The Australians simply did not have the experience to exploit the spinning conditions. If India were up against Pakistan on such a pitch, the result would have been different because we have a good spin attack.”
Miandad emphasised that tracks like the one at Kotla would kill the development of fast bowlers. “How do you expect to produce fast bowlers when you have such wickets? I don’t see how the Indian players will gain in confidence from performing on such tracks. What will you do when you tour countries like Australia, England and South Africa?” he asked.