Ian Chappell slams Australia media making allegations about ‘pitch doctoring’

Former Australia skipper Ian Chappell has lashed out at the Australian media for the allegations of pitch-doctoring in the first Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in which the visitors suffered a humiliating loss at Nagpur.

As per the hue and cry in the Australian media, the build-up to the series had been about the pitch that it could turn out to be a rank turner.

But, the Nagpur pitch turned out to be sporting wicket where India scored 400 runs in their first innings. 

In contrast, the visitors could manage only 177 and 91 in both their innings respectively despite winning the toss and opting to bat first.

Following Australia’s loss of an innings and 132 runs, Chappell hit out at the media and advised the Australian players to stay away from the chatter.

“The media making allegations about pitch-doctoring is nothing new. Players need to ignore those chatters or else it has a debilitating effect on the visiting team’s performance. Far too much emphasis is put on how pitches are going to play and on doctoring. It’s worth remembering that both teams have to play on the same pitch,” Chappell wrote in a newspaper column.

“The first match of the Test series has exposed Australia’s weakness against good spin bowling on turning pitches. They should ensure that their mental strength is not dented following the drubbing. It is going to be the key for them to keep them alive in the series,” he added.