Former Pakistan captain and batter Salman Butt slams Ian Healy over his controversial statement regarding Indian pitches.
Salman Butt Slams Ian Healy
After two long years, India and Australia will resume their cricketing rivalry when the two teams face each other in the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The Australian cricket team are currently in India to play the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 which starts on February 09 at Nagpur.
During the Australia tour of India 2023, 4 Tests and 3 ODI matches will be played between February 9 to March 22.
Ian Healy had said that if India offered a ‘fair pitch’ in which there is consistent spin, without the ball “jumping ridiculously and sliding down low from day one”, then Australia will end up on the winning side.
The ex-Australia wicketkeeper-batter had added that if an ‘unfair pitch’ is offered then India would play better than the visiting team in those conditions.
Commenting on Healy’s statement, Butt said that the Australian team has a habit of complaining and calling it ‘unfair’ if the pitches don’t favour them.
“When subcontinent teams travel to Australia, they don’t complain about the pitches. They don’t say there’s extra bounce pitch and that it’s unfair. There are different home conditions and you have to get used to those. Teams face difficulties in Perth, likewise, they also face problems against spin. So, you shouldn’t talk about what’s fair or unfair. The pitch is giving results. If the other team is winning on the same pitch that means they are performing better than you,” said Butt on his official YouTube channel.
“But ye aadat bhi hai. Unko samajh naa aaye toh fair nahi hota (It’s their habit. If they can’t understand the pitch, they call it unfair),” he added.
Earlier, commenting on the statement of Healy, Ashwin had said that the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy needs such type of ‘spark‘.
Meanwhile, Australian batters have been practising against Ravichandran Ashwin’s “duplicate” Mahesh Pithiya who they roped as a net bowler to negate the threat of the India off-spinner.
The visiting Australian team is currently training at the Karnataka Cricket Association Stadium ground in Alur after opting out of practice matches. The first match of the Border-Gavaskar Test 2021-22 will be played on February 9 at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur.
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