After Gabba Test ends inside 2 days, Virender Sehwag questions hypocrisy of “pitch critics” with hilarious post
Former India batter Virender Sehwag has questioned the muted criticism of the Gabba surface used for the first Australia-South Africa Test, which ended within two days on Sunday, December 18. He shared a screenshot to remind everyone how there had been a massive backlash when the India-England Test ended in two days last year.
Australia beat South Africa by six wickets in the first Test of the three-match series in Brisbane on Sunday. Bowling first after winning the toss, the Aussies bowled out the Proteas for 152.
The South African bowlers hit back and held the hosts to 218. The visitors, however, managed only 99 runs in their second innings. Australia then chased down a small target of 34, but not before losing four wickets.
Sehwag did not hold back in his criticism of the Gabba surface. He shared screenshots of the Australia-South Africa scorecard and the India-England day-night Test in Ahmedabad last year, which also lasted under two days.
The former batter indicated that while the Gabba result was being termed the “beauty of Test cricket”, the Ahmedabad pitch was rated by many experts as a “disgraceful” surface. Sehwag shared the post with the caption:
“Twaada kutta kutta, saada kutta Tommy. Hypocrisy ki bhi seema hoti hai 😂#ausvsa #testcricket.”
Former England captain Michael Vaughan, who was among the strongest critics of the Ahmedabad pitch, blasted the Gabba surface as well. Replying to Sehwag’s post, he commented:
“Awful pitch.”
Speaking of the India-England Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad last year, India hammered the Englishmen by 10 wickets. Batting first, England were bowled out for a mere 112, but India themselves were all out for 145.
England were rolled over for 81 in their second innings, after which India chased down the target of 49 with all 10 wickets in hand.
“I'm a bowler so you're asking the wrong person” - Pat Cummins on Gabba pitch
Speaking after Australia’s win, skipper Pat Cummins admitted that the pitch was a difficult one for batters.
He also praised Travis Head for playing a brilliant knock under the circumstances. Cummins said:
“Tricky wicket. I thought the way Head and (Steve) Smith batted got us to this winning position. I'm a bowler so you're asking the wrong person. But it was a difficult wicket, credit to Head for the way he batted - almost scored a hundred."
It’s all over at The Gabba, inside two days!
Australia extend their lead at the top of the #WTC23 standings with a six-wicket win 📈
Watch the rest of the #AUSvSA series LIVE on ICC.tv with a Full Tour Pass 📺 https://t.co/OmeITaMEDs
TravisHead was the Player of the Match for his innings 92 off only 96 balls, a knock which featured 13 fours and a six.