Sourav Ganguly, Michael Clarke bat for sporting pitches in India-Australia Tests
Mumbai: Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly believes that the ability of Australian spinners Steve O’Keefe and Nathan Lyon to consistently bowl in the good areas made the difference in the first Test in Pune, which the visitors won by 333 runs.
"The difference between the earlier teams and this Australian team touring here was the accuracy by Steve O'Keefe and Nathan Lyon,” Ganguly said to India Today. “If Australia's spinners keep bowling so accurately, India will be scared of preparing turning pitches."
Contrary to what most experts predicted, the Australian spinners completely dominated the Indian lineup, with O’Keefe picking up 12 wickets over the course of the two innings.
"India must have been surprised with the way Australia's spinners bowled. It's not the first time India prepared turners. They believed their own spinners were more accurate than the Aussie spinners. The way the two Australian spinners bowled will make India think for the rest of the series," said Ganguly.
The former India captain, who led the side to the final of the 2003 World Cup, which they lost to Australia, says that India should prepare more sporting pitches that would last the duration of the Test match.
“This is a very good Indian side but my advice to them would be don't play on these sort of pitches. Take the match to Day 5 as they did against England,” said Ganguly.
Ganguly further went on to say that the result of the first Test in Pune could have turned out to be very different, had India won the toss.
"If India would have won the toss in this Test match the game could have been different,” said Ganguly.
Ex-Aussie skipper Michael Clarke also chimed the same tune, saying that the toss played a huge role in deciding the result of the match. However, he also believes that O’Keefe deserves full credit for his 12-wicket-haul in the match, despite the spin-friendly conditions.
"Winning the toss was crucial. Starc's 61 runs were crucial in the first innings and nothing can take away the performance of Steve O'Keefe and his 12 wickets. We can expect a fantastic series now," said Clarke.
Ganguly further went on to say that preparing good pitches that will turn from the fourth day onwards, is something that will help India more than rank turners like Pune.
“Don't leave it to winning tosses in Test cricket. Play on good pitches in Bangalore, Ranchi and Dharamsala,” said Ganguly. “Invariably these pitches would turn on Day 4 and 5, take the game till the end. Because when you prepare such pitches and the ball is turning square as a batsman you know your chances of scoring are very difficult. India's best chance would be to play on good pitches."
