'Lot of Talk Around Pitches. Whatever It Is..': Rahul Dravid Offers Verdict on Ahmedabad Pitch

After India’s harrowing 9-wicket defeat against Australia in Indore in the third Test of the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023, the spotlight has again turned on the pitches.

Rank turners were the major talking point ahead of the beginning of the series, with Australian media accusing BCCI of ‘doctoring’ the pitch in Nagpur, and the visitors even hired a ‘duplicate’ of Ravichandran Ashwin to prepare for the Indian spinner.

While the ‘pitch talk’ had slightly silenced during the second Test as the Australian side suffered a six-wicket defeat in Delhi, following a loss by 132 runs and an innings in the first game.

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However, the pitches were thrown into the limelight once again after the third Test, where India lost by 9 wickets on a spinning track which the hosts struggled to get a hold of.

Naturally, the pitch of the fourth Test has thus been a major talking point ahead of the series finale.

Indian head coach Rahul Dravid attended the pre-match press conference and offered his take on the surface which is likely to be used for the upcoming match.

Dravid said that there the pitch looks okay and that there has been a lot of talk about the pitches during the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy, although whatever the surface will be, his team will try to win the match.

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“The pitch looks okay. Lot of talk around pitches. Whatever it is, we have to learn to play on them,” said the veteran.

ICC had recently given the Indore pitch a ‘poor’ rating and the Indian head coach was also quizzed about the same. He, however, insisted that it was a decision taken by the match referee.

With a place in the final of the World Test Championship at stake, Dravid stated his side were simply focused on winning the final match of the series.

“Won’t go too much into it, that’s match referees reading. With WTC points at stake, you look to play on wickets that produce results,” added the former Indian skipper.

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The 50-year-old also offered his thought on India’s defeat in Indore, stating that the first innings total of 109 runs was a tad bit short of a competitive total, which led to India’s downfall.

“109 were less in the first innings last game. 60-70 more could have made the difference,” said Dravid.

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