India's former left-arm spinner Murali Kartik has warned the pitch curators and the BCCI against preparing spin-friendly pitches for the upcoming four-match Test series against Australia, given the history and success of rank turners in this tournament.
Kartik might have been referring to the prowess of left-armer Steve O’Keefe, who picked up 12 wickets and the Player of the Match award in the first test held in Pune back in 2017 when the Aussies last played a Test series against India. O'Keefe took apart the Indian batting unit with his 12 wickets, including two six-wicket hauls as the side lost the opening Test by a mammoth margin of 333 runs.
Off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who is a part of the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy as well, also picked up five wickets.
Despite this defeat, India went on to win the series 2-1.
Kartik, who was a part of the squad when India last lost a Test series against Australia at home in 2004, believes that the Indian batters have had their troubles against spin in recent times.
“Playing spinners on a flat deck isn’t the problem. We must admit that our batters have struggled against quality spin bowling on tracks that have offered turn. I don’t know what kind of tracks will be in the offing but rank turners could backfire,” Karthik was quoted as saying to PTI.
Kartik also added that if the pitch starts to turn early in the game, the likes of Axar Patel should get to play as the third spinner alongside Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
“If it is a flatter deck, then Kuldeep could be a good choice as he has the skills to take the pitch out of the equation. If it starts turning from the second day onwards, Axar could come in. But if you ask me, invariably the third spinner will be under-bowled as you expect your two main guys to do the job,” he added.
The opening Test will be played from February 9 at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.
