Cricket Australia on Thursday refuted Perth curator Brett Sipthorpe’s claim that the board had asked for a fast and bouncy pitch for the second Test against India, reported Sydney Morning Herald.
The newly constructed Optus Stadium will be hosting its first Test match on Friday with the hosts trailing 0-1 in the four-match Test series. India edged out Australia by 31 runs in Adelaide.
Sipthorpe had stated earlier that CA had asked him to prepare a wicket that will rattle Virat Kohli and Co. “They want to see this place fly. That’s like an early Christmas present to me. To get that fear in the eyes of the opposition turning up and seeing it fly ... beautiful,” Sipthorpe was quoted as saying.
CA, though, insisted that they have been focussed on preparing wickets that has something in it for batters and the bowlers. “We work with all of our venues to ensure pitches deliver a competitive match between ball and bat in all Test matches,” a CA spokesperson told the news website. “That we see different characteristics in our wickets across our country is unique in world cricket and we should celebrate this and give freedom to our curators to bring them to the fore,” he added.
On the eve of the Test match, a buoyant Kohli said that his side won’t be intimidated by a wicket that is covered with grass. “Very excited. We just saw the pitch and it has a good grass cover. We wanted the Perth pitch to have more grass than even Adelaide because our bowlers can come into play,” said Kohli. He stated that his team was more excited than nervous.
The Indian pacers carried on their good work from South Africa and England, matching up to the Australian pace trio at the Adelaide Oval to script a 31-run win. The team, however, will be without the services of R Ashwin for this match and could consider playing an all-pace attack much like in Johannesburg earlier this year.
