These three occasions when the Indian team got trapped in its own web, got a humiliating defeat

Indore: The Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia has now reached its final stage. Three matches of the series have been played. All these three matches ended within three days. Hosts India won the first two matches of the start, while Australia took 9 wickets in the third Test match. The first match of the series was played in Nagpur while the second match took place in Delhi and the third match took place in Indore. In all these three matches, the only thing discussed everywhere was the pitch.

It is also necessary to discuss the pitch because the pitches of all these three venues Nagpur, Delhi and Indore were helpful for spin bowlers. It is obvious that the host India wants to present the toughest challenge to Australia in its home condition but it could not happen in Indore. The turning track with which Team India had built the turning track in the Indore Test turned out to be a disaster.

This is not the first time that the Indian team has found itself trapped in the trap it weaves for its opponent in Test matches. Including the Indore Test, this has happened a total of three times.

Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023, Indore Test

The Indore Test is the latest case of getting caught in its woven web on the turning track. Kich kich was happening since the beginning of the series regarding the pitch. The Indore Test match was shifted from Dharamshala. Indore was always considered a batsman’s paradise but in the recent Test match against Australia, it turned into a graveyard. The ball on the pitch started turning from the very first hour of the first day. What was it then, the spin bowlers started showing their mettle. In the match, captain Rohit Sharma had won the toss and elected to bat so that in the fourth innings, he would make Australia bat in difficult conditions, but all the bets backfired.

Batting first, the team was reduced to 109 runs. In response, Australia’s team scored 197 runs and took a lead of 88 runs. In the second innings too, India’s condition was miserable and on the second day of the game, Australia was reduced to a target of 76 runs. On the third day, the Australian team easily achieved this target. In this way, the turning wicket on which Team India tried to trap Australia itself got entangled in that trap.

Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2017, Pune Test

A similar tragedy happened in the first match of the 2017 Border-Gavaskar Test series against Australia in India’s Indore Test. The match was played in Pune. As expected, considering the home conditions, the pitch was made helpful to spin bowlers. In the match, the Australian team won the toss and decided to bat first. Australia’s first innings was reduced to 260 runs. In response, the Indian team was able to score only 105 runs. For Australia, spin bowler Steve O’Keefe took 6 wickets. Except KL Rahul, no one else could do anything special in the match. In this way Australia’s team got a strong lead of 155 runs in the first innings.

In the second innings once again the Australian batsmen showed their mettle. Captain Steve Smith played an innings of 109 runs and Australia’s team scored a score of 285 runs and set a huge target of 440 runs in front of India. In response to this big target, Team India once again faltered and the entire team was all out for just 107 runs. Steve O’Keefe got 6 wickets in the second innings as well. In this way Australia won the match by 333 runs.

India vs England, Mumbai Test 2012

The Indian team was first caught in the trap of turning track in 2012 when the England team was on a tour of India. The second Test match of the series was played at Wankhede in Mumbai. In this match, Team India won the toss and elected to bat first. With the expectation that the guests would be put in trouble in the fourth innings, but here the bet backfired. Batting first, the Indian team got piled on 327 runs. The pitch was helpful to the batsmen in the beginning but the spin of Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann of England was such that both of them took a total of 9 wickets.

At the same time, when the England team came out to bat, they scored 413 runs in response to India’s 327 runs. The England team got a significant lead of 86 runs on a turning pitch. India had a chance to recover in the second innings but where were Monty Panesar and Swann going to let this happen. Where Panesar took 6 wickets, Swann got 4 wickets in his account. In this way, India’s second innings was reduced to a score of just 142 runs. In this way, England got a target of only 57 runs, which they completed without losing any wicket and won the match by 10 wickets.

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