India vs Australia – “Test Matches Finishing In 2.5 Days…”: Gautam Gambhir’s Blunt Take On Pitch Debate

The first three Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy have been pretty gloomy for batters in both the Indian and Australian camps. For the first two Tests, the Indian spinners dominated the proceedings while the third Test saw Australian spinners step up and deliver. What’s disappointing for a huge section of fans is the fact that all three Tests concluded within three days each. As the chatter around the nature of the pitches prepared for the first three Tests continue, former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir admitted that it’s not nice to see Test matches being wrapped up in 2.5 days.

Gambhir, in a chat on Sports Today, spoke about multiple topics, be it the struggles of Indian batters like Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Rohit Sharma against spinners, or the debate around the nature of the wickets prepared by the Indian camp.

“I feel, yes, playing on turning tracks is fine, but I won’t appreciate Test matches finishing in 2.5 days. We want to see tight finishes, like the one we saw in the New Zealand vs England Test. (If a Test goes to) 4th or 5th day, it is fine. But 2.5 days is too short,” said Gambhir in a chat on Sports Today.

In a straightforward question, Gambhir was asked if the ability to play spin bowling in this generation’s batters has dipped, in comparison to the previous generation.

“I don’t think so. People like (Cheteshwar) Pujara, (Virat) Kohli, Rohit Sharma are good players of spin bowling. If they weren’t, they won’t have played in 100 Tests (Pujara and Kohli have featured in 100+ Tests so far). You have to be very good player of spin and fast bowling to reach that mark. One thing that has changed is that the DRS has played a massive role. When there was no DRS and no LBW on the front foot, a lot of times you had to change your technique as well. People don’t talk about that too much,” Gambhir added.