"Something needs to be done about this"- Former Australian cricketer furious about pitch controversy during IND vs AUS 4th Test

Former Australian cricketer Mark Waugh was baffled to find out that pitch curators in Ahmedabad hadn't decided which track the fourth Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 will be played on.

The decision wasn't made until the very last moment and captain Steve Smith too was a bit surprised as he saw two pitches being prepared simultaneously in the build-up to the Ahmedabad Test.

Speaking to Fox Cricket, Mark Waugh shed light on the need to bring this issue up and here's what he had to say:

"This is not on. I don’t know how you don’t know what pitch you’re playing on. In Australia, I think the groundsman and curators are told months in advance, so they set up the pitch for the camera, the side screen, the spectators. But in India, it’s different. I don’t know what’s going on here but I think something needs to be done about this."

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India 'panicked' because of Australia's win in Indore: Brad Haddin

Former Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin felt that the visitors' win in the third Test made India think hard about the kind of pitch they wanted to give in Ahmedabad.

Haddin shed light on how India wanted the fourth Test to be a dress rehearsal for the World Test Championship final, but that wasn't to be as the Aussies thumped them in Indore. On this, Brad Haddin stated:

"If you go back to the last Test match, just before the Test, Rohit Sharma said, ‘I would like the next wicket to be a green wicket, get us ready for the Test championship.' I just think they prepared that wicket thinking Australia were going to lose that Test match, then all of a sudden panicked, and now they had to go back to a traditional Indian wicket.”

The pitch in Ahmedabad has proved to be an absolute belter, with the visitors having crossed the 150-run mark in their first innings with a loss of just two wickets.

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