Indian captain Rohit Sharma didn’t go easy on ICC after the Test match between India and South Africa ended in just 2 days. He also hit out at the match referees for their double standards, saying that when games get over quickly in India, they rate pitches poor.
The second Test between India and South Africa ended in just 4 and a half sessions, with the Rohit Sharma-led side winning it by 7 wickets. The pitch at the Newlands Park in Cape Town was terrible to play for batters as both the teams got out early.
The pitch had invariable bounce as well as the pace, which saw South Africa getting bundled out for just 55 runs in the first innings. If was not enough, the visitors then got all out for 153 runs. A similar story unfolded in the second innings as well as no team went past the 200 mark, which depicts the kind of surface it was.
Both the teams had spinners in the XI as well but they didn’t get an opportunity to bowl. The Day 1 of the game saw as many as 23 wickets falling.
Rohit Sharma while talking about the pitch said that he doesn’t mind playing on such pitches as long as people keep their mouths shut in India and don’t crictise the Indian pitches. He stressed on the fact that people need to stand on Test cricket being the pinnacle of the game and don’t bring pitches into talks. Speaking during the press conference, he explained:
“I mean, we saw what happened in this match, how the pitch played and stuff like that. I honestly don’t mind playing on pitches like this. As long as everyone keeps their mouth shut in India and don’t talk too much about Indian pitches, honestly.
“Because you come here [in Test cricket] to challenge yourself. Yes, it is dangerous. It is challenging. So, and when people come to India, it is again pretty challenging as well. Look, when you are here to play Test cricket, we talk about Test cricket, the ultimate prize, Test cricket being the pinnacle and stuff like that. I think it’s important that we also stand by it.”
Rohit Sharma further lashed out at the governing body, saying that it’s important that they stay neutral on pitch ratings everywhere. He pointed out how people make a mess of the pitch when the ball starts turning from Day 1 in India. He added:
“When you are put up against, a challenge like that, you come and face it. That’s what happens in India, but, in India on day one, if the pitch starts turning, people start talking about ‘Puff of dust! Puff of dust!’ There’s so much crack here on the pitch. People are not looking at that. I think it’s important that we stay neutral everywhere we go. Especially the match referees. You know, some of these match referees need to keep their eye on how they rate pitches. It’s quite important.”
IND vs SA: Match Referees should keep their eyes and ears open – Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma further hit out at match referees, saying that he couldn’t believe that they gave below below-average rating to the pitch of the ICC World Cup 2023. He slammed the officials, saying that they need to rate the pitches on what they see and not based on countries.
Rohit Sharma added that everyone wants to play on challenging pitches but ICC and the officials need to be neutral. He explained:
“I still can’t believe that the World Cup final pitch was rated below average. A batsman got a hundred there in the final. How can that be a poor pitch? So these are the things the ICC, the match referees, they need to look into and start rating pitches based on what they see, not based on the countries. I think that’s quite important.
“So I hope they keep their ears open, they keep their eyes open and look into those aspects of the game. Honestly, I’m all for pitches like this. We want to challenge playing on pitches like this. We pride ourselves playing on pitches like this. Uh, but all I wanna say is be neutral.”
The Test series between India and South Africa ended in a draw. This was for the first time since 2010, that India drew a series in South Africa.
