14 March,2023 09:08 AM IST | Ahmedabad | Santosh Suri
Action from Day Five of the fourth Test between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, yesterday with numerous empty seats in the background. Pic/PTI
On a day when one of the most exciting finishes was seen in Test cricket history at Christchurch with New Zealand defeating Sri Lanka off the final ball of the game and thereby India qualifying for the World Test Championship final in London in June, it was a depressing sight at the world's biggest cricket stadium.
As many as 1,29,000 seats were empty on the final day of the fourth Test between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium. This surely isn't good advertisement for the longest format in a cricket-crazy country.
Cricket lovers in India were following the game in New Zealand, not only because India's WTC fate depended on the result, but also because of the tremendous excitement the final hour of the game produced. On the other hand, in Ahmedabad, all interest was lost the moment India failed to make a breakthrough in the pre-lunch session.
India had laid out turning pitches in the first two Test matches on which the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja proved a handful for the Aussies and on the most notorious one in Indore, the Indian batsmen lost the plot. All those three games ended within three days. After the pitch at the Holkar Stadium was rated poor by the ICC, the BCCI was under pressure to not repeat the deeds of Indore, considering it would have brought disrepute to the stadium in the home city of BCCI secretary Jay Shah. As a result, the effort to produce a sporting pitch went awry as it turned out to be a batting paradise and batsmen from both sides put up big scores and a result couldn't come out of it.
This brings us to the debate of whether pitches that produce results within three days are better than the one laid out at Motera. Take your pick: A dust bowl masquerading as a Test pitch in Indore or a placid surface here in Ahmedabad.
There is no doubt that when India were batting on the second and third day, the crowd enjoyed two masterly innings; one by Shubman Gill, an upcoming youngster and the other from Virat Kohli, who was trying to revive his fortunes in Test cricket. These two would surely have no complaints about the pitch here. But for once, the Indian bowling unit was tested on a flat pitch, and in retrospect, one can say that the team management could have tried out left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav. He could have provided the much-needed variety to the bowling attack.
Of course, dropping Axar Patel would have been a courageous call considering his exploits with bat in the series. But he has not been as effective with the ball in this series and has hardly looked like getting a wicket.
Also Read: Ind vs Aus Test Series: Motera gets a draw deal!
Kuldeep has been one of the unluckiest bowlers as he has spent more time on the bench than on the field. He has been dropped even after doing well a couple of times, the most glaring example being when he was sidelined for the second Test match against Bangladesh in December 2022 after picking up eight wickets in the first to be adjudged Man of the Match.
Kuldeep has a decent record having taken 34 wickets in just eight Test matches at an average of 21.55. He has 130 wickets in 78 ODIs and 46 in 28 T20Is. Being on the Test bench, he also hasn't got opportunities to play domestic cricket. So, he has been neither here nor there, and, as a result, his career has just stagnated.
