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India good enough to win without rank turners: Adam Gilchrist

Australia great Adam Gilchrist thinks India do not need to rely on turning pitches in order to win a match.

Mumbai: Former Australian wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist is of the opinion that India are good enough to win matches without having to rely on rank turners.

The hosts’plan backfired after Australian spinners Steve O’Keefe and Nathan Lyon picked up 17 of the 20 wickets in the two innings reducing India to 105 and 105 in the Pune Test.

“The Chinnaswamy Stadium, we all know, can produce a beautiful cricket pitch — one that can reward the batsmen and bowlers alike. They can go for a conventional pitch which plays well early on and then deteriorates later or prefer the one like in Pune which was substandard,”Gilchrist told Mumbai Mirror.

“They can do that but they probably run the risk of losing another toss. If they win the toss, India will logically dominate the Test match and if they lose the toss, they could find themselves in trouble. And that would be risky when you are down in the series. But India has a team that is capable of playing high quality cricket and getting a result on much better wickets than what we have seen. They don‘t need traditional India cricket pitches.”

The big hitting batsman was full of praise for the Australian side for defying the pre-match hype and going on to clinch an impressive victory.

“Looking at the two teams prior to the Test, it was unexpected, and certainly not in three days. My thoughts were that Renshaw (Matt) and Handscomb (Peter) did not have any previous experience but they prepared very well and had the best of the condition on a wicket which was not up to the standard,”he said. “All in all, they did well to get that win and it is exciting for the rest of the series. India still play well in these conditions and they will be cursing. They will be ready to strike back.”

Gilchrist reserved special praise for the Man-of-the-Match O’Keefe after his 12-wicket haul. “He is a hard worker, he has been very loyal and high performer for New South Wales for many years. Many have felt that his results had gone unrewarded by the previous Australian selectors. He did not get what he deserved in Test cricket. There were a few people who questioned he being in the team and he is enjoying proving them wrong. He is a very solid bowler who knows his game very well.”

Gilchrist also warned India to avoid relying on star names like Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin all the time. “Virat, as I have said, is undoubtedly the world class player, a proven performer. But he can’t do business every single time. So there is a challenge for the rest of the batting group to find a way to shine on the odd times when Virat has not. Ravi Ashwin’s record speaks for itself. But the Australian batsmen seem to have a plan for him. He has a challenge too.”

( Source : deccan chronicle )
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