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The debate over the Indore pitch for the the third Test between India and Australia, does not seem to end anytime soon. The pitch at the Holkar Stadium in Indore offered a lot of turn, which came as a blessing for the spinners but as a nightmare for the batters as a total of 31 wickets fell in three days of play. The match finally ended on Day 3 with the visitors bagging a nine-wicket victory and securing their place in the World Test Championship final. As the fourth Test is just around the corner, skipper Rohit Sharma had hinted that Team India might go for a green top pitch, in order to prepare for the WTC finals, which will be played at the Oval in London. However, former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting dismissed all the claims and stated that the hosts would be opting for a rank turner instead of a green pitch as they need to win the fourth Test in order to enter the WTC final.
Ponting also recalled the 2017 Test series, where Australia had clinched the victory in the opening match in Pune and stated that whenever Team India tries to focus on rank turner, it always backfires on them.
“Having lost the third Test match, the whole series is on the line now. If they had won in Indore they might have wanted a wicket in the fourth Test a bit similar to what they might get in the UK. With the series on the line, no way in the world they are going to do that. I think this is the Test match result Australia needed in the first Test match. They needed to sow a few seeds of doubts in the minds of the Indian players and the curators on how they would go about preparing the wickets,” said Ponting on ICC Review.
“I have seen this happen in India before. When they get so focused on trying to produce really rank turners it could backfire quickly. It had happened when Steven O’Keefe had taken all those wickets,” he added.
Ponting further stated that the hosts should be currently focusing on the upcoming fourth Test rather than the WTC final.
“So it is really intriguing to me now as to how they prepare their wicket for the last game knowing that the series is on the line. If I was there I wouldn’t be looking too far ahead to the WTC final, they should only be looking at the next five days of Test cricket,” said Ponting.
After losing the first two Tests, Australia made a remarkable comeback in the third Test in Indore, beating India to reduce the deficit to 1-2.
All three Tests of the series concluded well within the first three days. The aim is likely to not let that happen for the 4th time in a row.
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