Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) curator Matt Page has finally opened up on the recent pitch controversy surrounding the Indian cricket team. Page defended the decision to provide the training equipment used by the Indian team during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Tensions arose between the Indian team management and the MCG pitch curator when Rohit Sharma and Akash Deep were hit hard during nets. The Men in Blue were given the used pitches while the Australian team used the fresh pitches for practice.
However, fast bowler Akash Deep later addressed the issue, claiming that such things are common during net sessions and both he 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 Indian training ground controversy
MCG Chief Curator Matt Page defended the decision to give used equipment to the Indian team. Page mentioned the protocol the field follows. He claimed that the Men in Blue would have got new wickets if they had trained on Monday morning, which was three days before the match.
“For us, three days out, we are preparing pitches for Test matches for here. If TEAMS come and practice before that, they get what pitches we had,” Page defended the MCG decision.
“Today we are on fresh ground. If India had trained (on Monday) morning, it would have been on those fresh pitches – it's standard stock procedure for us, three days out,” he told reporters.
While the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is underway, Australia's premier T20 competition, the Big Bash League, is also underway. 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 replied that it would provide pace and bounce and be less help to the spinners. The ground has received the highest rating from the ICC for the past two years and Page wants to continue that.
“We have seen three fantastic Test matches so far (in series) on three large plots. So for us, we're trying to do something similar to what we've done the last two years and create an exciting contest,” Page said.
“We'll just monitor (the term) – as we know with Melbourne, the weather can change quite quickly. It probably means that it might accelerate (in pace) a little faster than it would if it were 20 (degrees). If we leave a little 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 in this general field. They have played 14 tests at this ground with 4 wins, 8 losses and 2 draws. India have won on the last two occasions they have traveled to Australia for Test cricket.
In 2018-19, they won by 137 runs under the captaincy of Virat Kohli. and during the 2020-21 tour, the Men in Blue won by 8 wickets under his leadership Ajinkya Rahane.