The third Test of the four-match Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2023 is currently underway at the Holkar Cricket Association Stadium in Indore, and the Indian side have been cleaned up by Australia with mere 109 runs in their first innings on Day 1 itself.
Electing to bat first, India got off to a rough start and failed terribly to play the Aussie spinners. Virat Kohli (22) top-scored for the hosts in their first innings but couldn’t help his team reach a decent score. Shubman Gill also contributed 21 runs to the team’s total. Meanwhile, Matthew Kuhnemann took a five-wicket haul for Australia and played a significant role in dismantling the Indian lineup.
Talking about Australia’s inning, the visitors are batting well and have scored 71 runs for the loss of one wicket till the Tea Break and trail by 38 runs with Usman Khawaja (33) and Marnus Labuschagne (16) still on the crease. On the other hand, Ravindra Jadeja gave India their first breakthrough in the form of Travis Head.
Notably, except for one runout, all the wickets in the first innings of India were bagged by the spinner as the Indore pitch showed a great turn on the very first day of the game. Reacting to the behaviour of the track, many questioned the pitch curator and expressed their disappointment.
Australia legend Brad Hogg took to Twitter and wrote, “One day test match anyone?” while veteran India opener Wasim Jaffer posted, “Looking at the pitch, not only Shami but I think Siraj and Umesh are also rested for this test.”
The fans on social media also didn’t shy away from calling out the sad state of the pitch and lambasted the ground staff for preparing such a track.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Australia restrict India for 109.#INDvAUS #3rdTest #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/lm2lg2NhqM
— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) March 1, 2023
One day test match anyone? #INDvAUS
— Brad Hogg (@Brad_Hogg) March 1, 2023
Looking at the pitch, not only Shami but I think Siraj and Umesh are also rested for this test 😅 #INDvAUS #BGT2023
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) March 1, 2023
Not true @vikrantgupta73 : this is a terrible pitch for any generation. It isn’t about playing skills against spin, it’s about batting becoming a lottery. Difference between bad pitch and a difficult one. Frankly, ‘doctoring’ wickets has reached point of absurdity now. Must stop
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) March 1, 2023
After see today's Pitch request to BCCI#INDvAUS #BGT2023 pic.twitter.com/9bcjGBTWGZ
— भाई साहब (@Bhai_saheb) March 1, 2023
Geometry, Trigonometry sab seekhne ko milega iss test match mai. #indvaus pic.twitter.com/kVA9U7FV0X
— mon (@4sacinom) March 1, 2023
I truly do not believe a first day pitch should turn this much ever. Anywhere. #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/d7HJE2q7pQ
— Anthony Sherratt (@AnthonySherratt) March 1, 2023
https://twitter.com/_Cricpedia/status/1630795067232514048
#IndvsAus #BGT #RohitSharma
Indore pitch be like… pic.twitter.com/WUeRaBbYD9— Burnitdown (@Burnitdowwn) March 1, 2023
Khalbali around pitch at Lunch. India coach Rahul Dravid in the middle for a close look 😎 #INDvAUS #BorderGavaskarTrophy pic.twitter.com/PWaSd3sX1b
— Sahil Malhotra (@Sahil_Malhotra1) March 1, 2023
I'm glad Aussies are in control of this test.
This pitch is absolutely terrible. It's a bad advertisement for test cricket. I hope commentators like @bhogleharsha and others speak out.
It's as boring as those test matches in Pakistan. #INDvAUS #INDvsAUS #BGT2023
— Abilash (@abilash_s_90) March 1, 2023
https://twitter.com/ladywithflaws/status/1630795327367417857
https://twitter.com/Bazballing/status/1630847748512661505
Absolutely. This is not Test cricket, but lottery. Taking it a bit too far with these pitches. Fans are being robbed here. #IndvAus https://t.co/KXWvc77hkY
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) March 1, 2023
Those who bought day 4 and day 5 tickets of this match 🤣
#INDvAUS #Pitch pic.twitter.com/ZQp5CV8hSo— 👑Che_ಕೃಷ್ಣ🇮🇳💛❤️ (@ChekrishnaCk) March 1, 2023
A confident India(Cricket) should be able to criticise its own players, pitches & results; accept reasonable criticism from England & Aus; ignore a bit of criticism from Eng &Aus; respond in kind to some criticism from Eng & Aus; & criticise Eng & Aus as well. No victim. #INDvAUS
— Vijay A (@VAAChandran) March 1, 2023