After the 2nd Test between India and South Africa was wrapped up in under five sessions, the Newlands pitch came under criticism from various corners. While former cricketer and noted commentator Mark Nicolas rated the pitch as poor writing in his column for a leading cricket website, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma did not mince his words at the post-match press conference stating that he does not mind playing in such seamer-friendly tracks as long as pitches in India were were not marked down for being spin-friendly.
Last year, when Australia came visiting, India had walloped the eventual World Test Championship winners on tracks which were spin-friendly and then the criticism from various quarters – particularly the Western media – was that India had deliberately prepared such pitches to reap advantage.
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However, during the South Africa series when India was handed out two spicy pitches at Centurion and Newlands and while India lost at Centurion, the tables were turned at Newlands. During the pitch report on Day 2 of the second Test former South African captain Shaun Pollock had mentioned that the groundsman got it wrong after SA were bundled out for 55 in their first innings and India went on to lose six wickets for 0 runs. A total of 24 wickets fell – all to pacers.
Former India skipper and noted commentator, Sunil Gavaskar, writing in his column in a leading national daily came down hard on the double standard of pitch criticism where when in SENA nations (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) when pitches heavily favouring the bowlers are made it is termed as a mistake from the groundsmen, while if the same happens in India which regards to spin-friendly tracks, the swords are out blaming not only the groundsmen, but Team Indian management terming it as a deliberate ploy.
“This kind of excuse that the curator got it wrong is typical of the SENA countries,” wrote Gavaskar in the Midday. “When our curators make a dry pitch then it’s ‘chicanery’ as a former Australian skipper said last year after the Aussies had been walloped in the first two Test matches.”
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“So our groundsmen do it deliberately, but their groundsmen just get it wrong. It’s like before the third country umpires came in, where decisions by their umpires were excused as ‘human error’ while our umpires were cheats and ‘Delhi Butchers’ and all such derogatory headlines,” he went on to add.
After losing the first Test, India came back strongly to level the two-match series 1-1 but returned once again failing to win a Test series in South Africa. India has never been able to win a Test series in South Africa; Sri Lanka remain the only Asian country to achieve the feat to date.
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