NEW DELHI: Indian captain Rohit Sharma stated that the team practiced on used pitches and will receive new pitches for Tuesday’s training session ahead of the fourth Test match against Australia in Melbourne, which is a Boxing Day Test match. In addition, he shared his thoughts on the pitch thus far and the potential for using a second spinner.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy‘s second half looks to be an exciting ride, with the series tied at 1-1. Winning the next two games in Melbourne and Sydney would be crucial for both teams’ prospects of qualifying for the ICC World Test Championship.
Ahead of the fourth Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Team India had to contend with another obstacle as players negotiated the practice pitches that were provided to them. In contrast to the new surfaces provided to Australia for their practice, the pitches they have utilized in the sessions thus far are old and have poor bounce.
The Indian captain confirmed that the team practiced on old pitches and will use new ones on Tuesday.
“I think those pitches which we trained the last couple of days, I think they were used pitches, I think they were used for Big Bash, and now today is the only day where we are going to get the other side of it, which will be fresher wicket. So we will go and see how it is and we will train accordingly,” he said during the pre-match presser.
In his evaluation of the MCG pitch, Rohit stated that it had a “bit of grass covering” when he looked at it the day before.
“And we are certainly considering the weather factor and all of that. We will see what is the best. I have not seen the wicket today. But whatever we have to do to make the best possible 11 in these conditions, we will try and do that, whether it is playing an extra spinner or not,” added Rohit on possibility of playing an extra spinner.
