India vs Australia 3rd Test: Matthew Hayden Slams Indore Pitch, Says ‘These Kinds Of Surfaces Not Good For Test Cricket’

Team India were bowled out for 109 after lunch on Day 1 of the third Test against Australia at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Wednesday.

Photo: PTI

Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden slammed the pitch at Holkar Stadium in Indore being used for the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test, saying that pitches like them are not suitable for playing the longest format of the game. After India won the toss and elected to bat first on a dry pitch, frenetic play followed, where every ball was literally an event as the ball turned big apart from variable bounce coming into play, as the hosts’ lost half of their side at 45 and eventually lost two more by the time lunch arrived. India were bowled out for 109 after lunch.

“No way spinners should come to bowl in the sixth over. This is the reason I don’t like these kinds of surfaces. It shouldn’t be keeping this low and turning so much on Day 1. It doesn`t matter whether Australia wins this Test or India,” Hayden said on air on Wednesday (March 1).

“These kinds of surfaces are not good for Test cricket. You are allowed to have a four-five days Test match. At this pace I feel sorry for the fans, I don’t think this Test will go for Day 4,” said Hayden while on commentary duties during the first session on day one.

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Hosting the third Test in Indore happened only after the original venue at HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala was deemed unfit to host the Test match. In the first session of the first Test in Nagpur, the ball turned 2.5 degrees for the spinners on an average, while it was 3.8 degrees in New Delhi. But at Indore, it turned a whopping 4.8 degrees.

“This is why I’ve got a problem with these conditions. There’s no way in the world that a spin bowler should come on in the sixth over. 4.8 degrees, that’s massive turn. That’s the sort of turn you’d expect day three,” Hayden added.

“You’ve got to give batters a chance... Day one, day two should be about batting. It shouldn’t be a spin bowler’s paradise necessarily, it shouldn’t be keeping low and turning a mile on day one.

“The game shouldn’t be moving forward this quickly. You’re allowed to have a four or five day Test match! Otherwise just call it as it is, we’ll just play three-dayers,” the former Australia opener felt.