Former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa opined that the batters who played on the spicy Melbourne wicket for the Boxing Day Test could have taken notes from Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. Uthappa said that this wicket was not impossible to bat, and if batters had the right mindset to fight it out, they could have done it. “See, it’s a dichotomous situation. It’s not like it’s an impossible wicket. There are such wickets in Melbourne which are very juicy for fast bowlers… I think it’s because of the way cricket is played today,” Uthappa said on his YouTube channel. “I feel like these pitches are unsporty, but if you’ve the right technique and the right mindset and the fight in you, you’ll be able to figure out a solution for this kind of a wicket also. It’s not a high-scoring game, but it’s not… It won’t be a 300-plus game, but even a 250 on this wicket is possible. You gotta fight it out. Play like Puji and Ajinkya Rahane. Definitely, you’ll score runs,” he furted noted. Uthappa also pointed out how Joe Root struggled on that wicket. “I am saying this with a grain of salt because the way we’re playing Test cricket has now changed. I don’t enjoy it a lot – like the Ashes Test matches that finished in two days. What are we doing to the sport for entertainment? Joe Root looked too lost in that Test match. He didn’t know how to play, play attacking cricket, or play his own way in the second innings. It was quite unfortunate… I empathize with them,” former Indian wicket-keeper batter said. Match referee Jeff Crowe has said the pitch was “unsatisfactory”. “The MCG pitch was too much in favour of the bowlers,” Crowe said. “With 20 wickets falling on the first day, 16 on the second day, and no batter even reaching a half-century, the pitch was ‘unsatisfactory’ as per the guidelines, and the venue gets one demerit point.”
Robin Uthappa advises on how to bat on MCG pitch: ‘Play like Puji and Ajinkya Rahane. Definitely, you’ll score runs’
