The curator of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) Matt Page has finally opened up on the recent pitch controversy surrounding the Indian cricket team. Page defended the decision to give used practice wickets to Team India during the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Tensions emerged between the Indian team management and the MCG pitch curator when Rohit Sharma and Akash Deep were badly hit during the nets. The Men in Blue were provided the used pitches while the Australian team used the fresh pitches for training.
However, fast bowler Akash Deep later settled down the issue claiming that such things are common during net sessions and both him and Rohit Sharma are fit. Akash also mentioned that the pitch had low bounce due to its preparation for white-ball games.
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MCG Curator breaks silence on India’s practice pitches controversy
MCG head curator Matt Page defended the decision to give used wickets to the Indian team. Page mentioned the protocol that the ground follows. He claimed that the Men in Blue would have got fresh wickets had they trained on Monday morning, which is three days before the game.
“For us, three days out, we prepare Test match pitches for here. If teams come and train before that, they get what pitches we have had,” Page defended MCG’s decision.
“Today, we are on fresh pitches. If India had trained (Monday) morning, they would have been on those fresh pitches – it’s stock standard procedure for us, three days out,” he said to the reporters.
While the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is going on, Australia’s premier T20 competition Big Bash League is running as well. Melbourne has already hosted one match of the tournament so far. It will not host any more games before the Boxing Day Test.
How will the MCG pitch behave?
When asked about the nature of the pitch, Matt Page responded that it would provide pace and bounce and there would be a lesser amount of help for the spinners. The ground has received the highest rating from the ICC in the last two years and Page wants to continue that.
“We’ve seen three fantastic Test matches so far (in the series) on three great pitches. So for us, it’s trying to do something similar to what we’ve done the last couple of years and create a thrilling contest,” Page said.
“We’ll just monitor (the pitch) – as we know with Melbourne, the weather can change quite quickly. It probably means it might quicken up (in pace) a bit quicker than what it would if it was 20 (degrees). Whether we leave a bit more moisture in it, I can’t say at this stage,” he explained.
India’s record at the MCG
The Men in Blue have a good record at this ground overall. They have played 14 Tests on this ground with 4 wins, 8 defeats, and 2 draws. India won on the last two occasions they traveled to Australia for Test cricket.
In 2018-19, they won by 137 runs under Virat Kohli’s captaincy. and during the 2020-21 tour, the Men in Blue won by 8 wickets under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane.