Puducherry, Oct 11 (IANS) Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin praised Puducherry for producing even pitches for batters and bowlers in ODI cricket, saying surfaces like these are where ODIs should be played.
Taking note from the ongoing unofficial ODIs between India A and Australia A at the Cricket Association Puducherry Siechem Ground, Ashwin stated that pitches like these will “demand more from the batters”.
“Right now! Pondicherry seems to be producing the kind of pitches ODIs should be played on,” Ashwin wrote on X. “250 chases look stiff! Producing pitches like these will demand more from the batters, tickle their tactical thinking and game awareness.”
The pitches in the ongoing unofficial ODI series between India A and Australia saw scores of under 300 being defended with ease. Australia A made 274 in the first unofficial ODI and went on to win by 125 runs with India A getting bowled out for 149.
The Aussies made 275 in the second unofficial game and won the match by 69 runs after bowling India A out for 206. This helped the Aussies take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series with a game to go.
The story looked similar in the third match too, when India A racked up 275 in the first innings. Only one hundred was hit across the five innings in the series, and that came from Aussie batter Nathan McSweeney’s bat in the first match, and five fifty-plus scores were made.
This comes in the backdrop of recent run-feasts between India and the West Indies. India went on to chase 406 with relative ease against the Windies in the second ODI of the three-match series with eight wickets in hand and 39 balls to spare as the surface was pure flat for run-scoring.
Captain Shubman Gill had scored an unbeaten 223, while Rohit Sharma made 101 as India chased down the second-highest score in ODI cricket, after that epic chase of 435 by South Africa against Australia in 2006.
Batters bossed the proceedings in the third ODI of the series as well as India racked up 351/7 batting first before the Windies went on to hunt the total down with five wickets in hand and 10 balls to spare.
Captain Shai Hope had slammed a stellar 162 to guide the chase after Rohit Sharma (92), Ruturaj Gaikwad (57) and KL Rahul (129) guided the Men in Blue to 351/7 on a surface that was tricky in the first 10 overs but got better to bat later.
–IANS
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