The discussion of “doctored pitches” in India has been downplayed by Australia coach Andrew McDonald, who has stated that he wants his players to be problem-solvers capable of adjusting to variations in playing conditions from one site to another.
The preparation of the pitch for the first Test in Nagpur has drawn harsh criticism from the Australian media, which claimed that it was specifically designed to benefit spinners and cause problems for the left-handed batsmen of the touring party.
However, McDonald, who took over as head coach from Justin Langer in early last year, expressed excitement about the challenge that lies ahead of his team on Thursday, clearly emulating his skipper Pat Cummins.
The nice thing about Test cricket is that the circumstances fluctuate from country to country and from venue to venue within a country, McDonald told SEN’s Whateley on Thursday. “Our job is to overcome the difficulties that the pitch brings,” McDonald said.
The coach continued, indicating that he was not surprised, as the team had always felt that the Indian pitches would follow expectations.
To be honest, it’s obvious that it’s dry and that we should have anticipated it. The warning to visit Nagpur stated that it was the largest turning wicket in India and (had) a high rate of reverse swing. I believe everything lines up, and we are eager to take on the challenge. I believe we have all heard the same pitch going around.
Given the abundance of left-handed batsmen on the Australian team, Indian spinners are predicted to benefit from the dry surface, but McDonald claimed his team has the players to handle the situation.
“Yeah, there’s no denying that our lineup is heavily left-handed. One side is dryer than the other, with a slight difference in moisture content. We have some pretty good problem solvers in our batting order who I believe can help us tackle the challenges that will inevitably result from it.
The coach stated that he did not believe India had been unfair to the visiting team when preparing pitches that the Australian media had referred to as “unorthodox” or “doctored.”
“I don’t think so. I think that you play your home conditions. We’ve got extra bounce in Australia and sometimes some grass. They call it Test cricket for a reason. All your skills get tested and having different conditions in in different countries is great. It would be a plain old game if the conditions were the same everywhere you went.
“The conversations we have a little bit more detailed when you get surfaces like this,” he added.
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