INTERNATIONAL CRICKET

Smith inspects Ahmedabad pitch ahead of Last Test

Brett lee umran Malik

Australian players have responded to the “mind-boggling” commentary on their selection and performances during their India tour. With confusion surrounding the pitch for the Border Gavaskar Trophy series finale, fill-in captain Steve Smith was uncertain about which of the two pitches being prepared in Ahmedabad would be used.

The curator indicated a 60% chance of playing on one pitch with predominantly black soil on the eastern side of the ground, and a 40% chance of playing on another with primarily red soil. The final Test takes place in less than 48 hours, and India currently leads the series 2-1.

SMITH WILL LEAD AUSTRALIA IN 4TH TEST AS WELL

As the fill-in captain for Pat Cummins, the star batter will lead his 38th Test this week. He expressed surprise at the confusion over the pitch for the Border Gavaskar Trophy series finale, admitting he could not recall such uncertainty so close to a game’s start.

When asked about if he knew which pitch will be used, Smith said:

“The short answer is no. There’s two prepared.”

On the same matter, Rahul Dravid said:

“I don’t know why two strips are covered. I never asked him why he covered the other one. But I don’t know what that was. We’re playing on this one, I have no idea about the other one. Everyone’s trying to produce wickets that eventually (produce) results in these games. That’s natural. You would be looking to produce wickets where the ball probably has a little more sway over the bat.”

Smith further said:

“It’s been weird with a bit of the commentary back home, people talking about us playing three quicks and one spinner. It’s kind of mind-boggling to me when we look at these surfaces and we see what we’ve had – 11 innings in six days or something like that. Spinners have taken the bulk of the wickets and you see how difficult it is to play the spin.”

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