It is a fitting battle of the top two sides, as Mumbai and Delhi take each other on in the inaugural WPL final

Harmanpreet Kaur

Issy Wong

Pooja Vastrakar

Natalie Sciver-Brunt

Marizanne Kapp

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Rovman Powell

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Rilee Rossouw

Sarfaraz Khan

Luvnith Sisodia

Manish Pandey

Philip Salt

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IPL 2023 is all set to shape India’s bowling attack for the next T20 World Cup

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T Natarajan

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Jasprit Bumrah

Ravichandran Ashwin

Washington Sundar

Ravi Bishnoi

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

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India

Judgement Day beckons India’s bowlers as road to 2024 T20WC begins

IPL, international cricket or other franchise leagues – we’ve got it all covered in our latest newsletter

Ricky Ponting

Meg Lanning

Mukesh Choudhary

Mohsin Khan

Ashton Agar

Sophie Devine

Australia tour of India, 2023

Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand, 2023

Netherlands tour of Zimbabwe, 2023

Afghanistan and Pakistan tour of UAE, 3 T20I Series, 2023

Australia

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Lucknow Super Giants

The Cricket.com Weekly - Edition 23

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KL Rahul

Quinton de Kock

Nicholas Pooran

Naveen-ul-Haq

Mark Wood

Jaydev Unadkat

Yash Thakur

IPL 2023 Preview: Rahul’s ‘strike rate’ could make or break LSG’s campaign

2022 was a season to forget for Mumbai, but by the looks of it, 2023 may not be very different

Jofra Archer

Jason Behrendorff

Jhye Richardson

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IPL 2023: Mumbai brace for a turbulent season 

The Indore Test between India and Australia lasted just three days. Australia went on to win the game by nine wicketgs but the pitch, which was the centre of attention for the duration, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/indore-surface-rated-poor-handed-three-demerit-points-1677851613856" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">received a poor rating from the ICC</a> and now stands a chance of being suspended.However, Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) president Abhilash Khandekar has however clarified that the state association did not have anything to do with the pitch, but curators from the BCCI had arrived few days before the game to get it ready.&ldquo;Two curators from BCCI had come eight to ten days before the match. The pitch was prepared under their supervision. The MPCA had no role in making the pitch,&rdquo; the MPCA chief told Times of India.&nbsp;&ldquo;I want to make it clear that just like any other state board association in international matches, MPCA has no role in making the pitch. BCCI curators come and they get the direction from BCCI along with the Indian team management.&rdquo;Khandekar is however unfazed when it comes to criticism around the pitch, reminding everyone of the fact that the first and second Test in Nagpur and Delhi respectively finished inside three days as well.&ldquo;As far as match finishing in three days is concerned, we have seen such of matches in Nagpur and Delhi also. There has been criticism of the pitch but if you will see the post-match conference, both captains have supported the pitch so we have nothing to add,&rdquo; Khandekar said.After a drubbing in the first two games, Australia under Steven Smith bounced back well in Indore to book their place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final. They now have a chance to level the series in Ahmedabad in the fourth Test, starting Thursday (March 9).&nbsp;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The pitch received a poor rating from the ICC and now stands a chance of being suspended

Indore Test pitch prepared under BCCI's supervision: MPCA president

Despite playing only seven first-class games before the Nagpur Test, Todd Murphy showed no signs of immaturity and bowled with control to land seven wickets in one innings. One among them was Virat Kohli, and what is astonishing is that Murphy dismissed the former Indian skipper two more times in the series to create a niche for himself.&nbsp;Onto the fourth Test in Ahmedabad, the off-spinner suggested that it was a fine battle, daunting at times, and he relished bowling out there.&quot;It&#39;s been awesome,&quot; Murphy said of that battle. &quot;When I look back to Nagpur when he walked out to bat, I was at the top of my mark thinking this is as good as it gets getting to bowl to a guy like that. So to be able to have that for the first three Tests has been awesome, a really enjoyable battle and no different to bowling to a lot of their guys. When they stand there it is daunting at times.&quot;&quot;It&#39;s always nice when it looks like that,&quot; he said. &quot;And I think the plans for [coming from] around the wicket is always to challenge both sides of the edges, for that to work out the way it did was nice and to get him out again was awesome.&quot;Australia played three front-line spinners in Muphy, Nathan Lyon, and Matthew Kuhnemann. For Murphy, it was the first time he experienced bowling alongside two spinners. While he was thrilled about it, Murphy revealed that captain Steve Smith&rsquo;s advice ahead of the third Test worked well for the team.&quot;It&#39;s something I&#39;ve never really experienced, playing with two other frontline spinners,&quot; Murphy said. &quot;Steve [Smith] talked about it before the last Test, it&#39;s about putting your ego away and knowing you&#39;re going to bowl short spells at times.&nbsp;&ldquo;It doesn&#39;t mean you&#39;re not bowling well, it&#39;s probably just accepting that and knowing that at certain times you&#39;re going to be playing different roles. It&#39;s been enjoyable and we&#39;ve been able to work off each other very well and we&#39;re quite different.&quot;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Onto the fourth Test in Ahmedabad, the off-spinner suggested that it was a fine battle, daunting at times, and he relished bowling out there

Virat Kohli

Todd Murphy

“It's been awesome” - Todd Murphy on battle with Virat Kohli

<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/5380/david-warner/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">David Warner</a>&rsquo;s stretch of bad form has been running the circles for some time now in international cricket. Whilst the left-handed did get a double-century against South Africa in December, his performance in the ongoing series against India wasn&rsquo;t quite the best, leading to several claiming that the southpaw could have played his last Test.&nbsp;Former Australian skipper <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/2394/ricky-ponting/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ricky Ponting</a> opined that the New South Wales batter had the perfect opportunity to retire from the longest format during the recently concluded series against South Africa, in Sydney.&nbsp;&quot;... I thought the absolute best time for Davey to retire, if he was thinking about it at all, was after the Sydney Test match here in Australia,&quot; Ponting told the ICC Review programme in an interview published on Sunday.&nbsp;&quot;He&#39;d just played his 100th Test in Melbourne, and obviously got 200 in the first innings down there. And to bow out in front of his home crowd is obviously the way that every player would like to finish their careers.&nbsp;&quot;Who knows now that opportunity might not come around again for Davey. That&#39;s nearly another 12 months away.&quot;Having said all of that, Ponting still insisted that this isn&rsquo;t the last time Warner would be donning the Baggy Green.&nbsp;&quot;(Australia) have got some really big decisions to make, leading into the Ashes as well,&quot; added Ponting, who retired from international cricket in 2012.&nbsp;&quot;I don&#39;t think it&#39;s the end of David Warner, I think they&#39;ll bring him back for that one game. If he does well there, then I think he&#39;ll probably start the Ashes and see from there.&quot;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Ricky Ponting though still felt that the southpaw could return to the Australian setup

Warner missed an opportunity to play final Test in Sydney: Ponting

Former India opener <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/2847/kris-srikkanth/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Krishnamachari Srikkanth</a> is thankful that <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/60122/kl-rahul/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">KL Rahul</a> was dropped for the third Test against Australia in Indore as he believes that his career may have ended if he had played on such pitches. The Indore track also <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/indore-surface-rated-poor-handed-three-demerit-points-1677851613856" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">received a poor rating from the ICC</a>.&nbsp;Rahul has struggled to get going in Tests in the last two years, managing just 175 runs from 11 innings in the format since the start of 2022. As a result, India roped in Shubman Gill for the third Test.In the ongoing series, Rahul has looked out of sorts, having managed just 38 runs from three innings with a highest score of 20.&quot;First and foremost, I am happy for KL Rahul. Thankfully, good that he did not play. If he had played on these wickets and failed to get going in the next two Tests, and if his career had ended... thank God, he didn&#39;t play. Frankly, speaking,&quot; Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.&quot;On these pitches, batting is very difficult. Whoever it is, batting is difficult. Let it be anybody, be it Virat Kohli, no one can score runs on these pitches. If you looked at it, [Matthew] Kuhnemann, bowling in the first innings, got the ball to rip through and turn square.&nbsp;&quot;On these wickets, taking wickets is not a big thing. Even if I had bowled, I would have picked up wickets. These are all hard talks, we have to accept them,&quot; he further added.Srikkanth also went on to express his unhappiness over the surfaces prepared for the series thus far. None of the matches have gone beyond Day Three so far. Srikkant believes that it is not a good advertisement for Test cricket.&quot;Not a good advertisement for Test cricket at all,&quot; he said.&quot;They are doing a mistake. Yes, if you see the 2008 series against Australia. The pitches weren&#39;t rank turners but India would win the series 2-0. But here, the ball is turning square from Day 1. It&#39;s hard to watch the batting on these pitches. It&#39;s not a good advertisement for Test cricket.&quot;With wins in Nagpur and Delhi, India went 2-0 up in the four-match Test series, but Australia bounced back in the third Test, winning the game by nine wickets and qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) final, scheduled to be played in June. A win for India in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad, starting March 9, will also see them make it to the summit clash.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The India opener was dropped for the third Test against Australia, paving way for Shubman Gill's return at the top

Kris Srikkanth

KL Rahul's career would have ended had he played in Indore: Kris Srikkanth

With a comprehensive nine-wicket victory against India in the Indore Test Australia qualified for the Wotld test Championship (WTC) final. They went 2-0 down but now have the chance to level the series in the Ahmedabad Test, that is set to get underway from March 9.While head coach is pleased with his team&#39;s performance in Indore, he is more excited with the prospect of of the core group of players learning what it takes to win matches in the subcontinent, starting with the ongoing series.&nbsp;Australia do not tour India until 2027, but they visit the subcontinent to take on Sri Lanka in 2025. <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/3890/andrew-mcdonald/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Andrew McDonald</a> believes this will be a terrific workout for players like Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/66870/cameron-green/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cameron Green</a> and others who are short of experince at the hghest level in such conditions.&quot;Usman Khawaja&#39;s performances here are probably tied back to his first experience in the subcontinent, Steve Smith as well,&quot; McDonald said.&nbsp;&quot;Everyone&#39;s journey starts at some point in time on the subcontinent, and I think there&#39;s a core group of players that will come back here more experienced and, in theory, better equipped for the challenges.&nbsp;&quot;We&#39;re talking about a series here where we&#39;ve had certain conditions that probably aren&#39;t relatable to any other subcontinent tour over time, so it&#39;s always a different challenge when you do arrive here.&quot;Australia lost their last six wickets for just 11 runs in the first innings in Indore, but other than that, it was a near-perfect performance by Australia.&quot;You have almost got to be near perfect against India in India. I think this game besides that 6 for 11 was near perfect,&quot; McDonald said.&nbsp;&quot;We had a little bit of luck. Marnus getting bowled off a no-ball, how critical was that at that point in time, [and] that allowed a partnership to flourish. We took our opportunities as well. Usman&#39;s flying catch and then Smudge [Smith] winding back the clock with that one at leg slip. You compare that to the Delhi game where Smudge dropped one at first slip and then we dropped one at leg slip in Matthew Renshaw, and they were critical.&quot;We had one hour of chaos there and that cost us that Test match when we&#39;d played pretty good cricket. We came here and doubled down on what we&#39;d set out to achieve at the start of the tour.&quot;So on the back of Delhi, it was &#39;how clear are we going to be in what we need to do next&#39;. Is this team good enough? Yes. What do we need to do next? We&#39;d lost 6 for 11, nothing we can do about that.&nbsp;&quot;We go out there and <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/29679/nathan-lyon/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nathan Lyon</a> as the experienced spinner delivers one of his best performances. It always takes an individual to do something special to get the team back on track, no doubt about that.&quot;McDonald also praised <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/63706/alex-carey/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alex Carey</a>&#39;s keeping. He felt that the stumping of Rohit Sharma early on in the Test gave his side the control in Indore. &quot;One part that hasn&#39;t been spoken about enough is Alex Carey&#39;s keeping,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;I think that on day one, that ball to Sharma, that high take, that stumping, if he doesn&#39;t execute that Sharma gets a look at the wicket, he plays differently and the game rolls in a different direction.&quot;I think sometimes we are quick to criticise wicketkeepers. In this instance, I thought that day one was an absolute clinic and gave us control of the game. We saw [KS] Bharat miss a couple of half-chances, or get his leg in the way of balls that could have gone to first slip. So I thought that was a key moment in the game.&quot;The pitch at Holkar Stadium <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/indore-surface-rated-poor-handed-three-demerit-points-1677851613856" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">received a poor rating</a> by the ICC after Australia wrapped up things within three days. However, McDonald believes that the toss and pitch are irrelevant.&quot;I think you can see that in the fact that all three games have been won against the toss, teams batting first have lost, and that&#39;s rare,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;It&#39;s usually pretty hard to win against the toss but here we&#39;ve seen three matches go that way. I think the more extreme the conditions, the less the toss is relevant.&quot;India still have to win the Ahmedabad Test to assure themselves of a placein the WTC final. However, if Sri Lanka go winless against New Zealand in the two-Test series, also starting March 9 in Christchurch, result in Ahmedabad will not matter.The Aussie head coach believes that the pressure has now transferred to the Indian dressing room, who still need a result to play the summit clash in June. &quot;I don&#39;t think we know what we&#39;re going to get in Ahmedabad, I don&#39;t think anyone does,&quot; he said.&quot;But we&#39;ve definitely put some pressure into that change room. Full credit to the guys. [It&#39;s] great reward for a group that over the past couple of weeks have had their challenges.&quot;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Australia do not tour India until 2027, but they visit the subcontinent to take on Sri Lanka in 2025

Andrew McDonald

Australia's core will be better equipped for subcontinent challenges: McDonald

The surface used for the third Test between India and Australia in Indore has been rated &#39;poor&#39; by the International Cricket Council on Friday (March 3).Australia won the third Test by nine wickets inside seven sessions, with spinners taking 26 of the 31 wickets to fall. Matthew Kuhnemann took five wickets in the first innings, while Nathan Lyon claimed 11 wickets in the match.The surface came under the scanner straightaway when India lost seven wickets in the first session on day one and were eventually bowled out for just 109. Australia managed to take an 88-run lead and then dismissed India for 163 in the second essay. The visitors needed 76 runs in the last innings and they got that with nine wickets to spare.The Holkar Stadium has now received three demerit points as a result after ICC Match Referee Chris Broad submitted his report after consultation with both captains - Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith. The BCCI now have 14 days if they wish to appeal against the sanction.&nbsp;Speaking on the pitch, Chris Broad said: &ldquo;The pitch, which was very dry, did not provide a balance between bat and ball, favouring spinners from the start.&quot;The fifth ball of the match broke through the pitch surface and continued to occasionally break the surface providing little or no seam movement and there was excessive and uneven bounce throughout the match.&rdquo;According to the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process, a venue will be suspended from hosting any international cricket for a period of 12 months if it accumulates five or more demerit points over a five-year rolling period.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Australia won the third Test by nine wickets inside seven sessions, with spinners taking 26 of the 31 wickets to fall

Indore surface rated poor, handed three demerit points

Indian captain <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/3852/rohit-sharma/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rohit Sharma</a> wants his batters to take a leaf out of Shreyas Iyer&rsquo;s book if they want to play impactful innings on challenging surfaces. The Indian batters struggled big time against Australian spinners in the third Test in Indore, which Steven Smith and Co. won by nine wickets to keep the four-match series alive.Rohit said Indian batters weren&rsquo;t brave enough and allowed the likes of Nathan Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy to dictate terms. India were bundled out for just 109 in the first innings and then allowed Australia to take a lead of 88 runs.&nbsp;In the second innings, Cheteshwar Pujara crafted a fifty, while Iyer slammed 26 off 27 deliveries before falling to Mitchell Starc. Those knocks didn&rsquo;t matter in the end as Australia got the required runs on day three with utmost ease.&nbsp;&quot;When you&#39;re playing on pitches like this, you need a Shreyas Iyer kind of an innings. Someone has to step up, someone has to take down the bowlers. It cannot always be that the batters will get 100 runs, 90 runs, 80 runs, you have to play cameos like that,&quot; said Rohit at his post-match press conference.&nbsp;&quot;If one of the top batters can get a big score, that&#39;s a plus, that&#39;s great, but when you know the pitch has some offering, there is a challenge, you need guys to go out there and play the way Iyer did, even though it (his dismissal) was a little unlucky or unfortunate.&nbsp;&quot;I would say he timed the ball really well, straight went into the hands - not straight into the hands, Khawaja took a very good catch - but you need that kind of innings.&quot;Apart from these two batters, India didn&rsquo;t do much in the second innings as well. Pujara got 59 off 142 deliveries and Rohit wants his batters to find their &ldquo;own methods&rdquo; to score runs on such surfaces.&nbsp;&quot;Pujara (was) being Pujara. He loves spending time in the middle, he wants to grind it out, that&#39;s his way of doing it. May not be the same way for a lot of the other guys,&rdquo; said Rohit.&quot;That is something that we spoke in our group as well, find your own methods of going out there and doing your job. As long as the job gets done, we are happy as a unit. Yes, like in the first two games as well, the runs will not come from everyone. As long as the runs come, we are happy as a unit.&quot;Rohit wasn&rsquo;t too impressed when he was constantly asked about the surface. &ldquo;Every time we play in India, there&#39;s only focus on the pitch. Why are people not asking me about Nathan Lyon, how well he bowled, how well Pujara batted in the second innings, how well Usman Khawaja played?&quot;Talking about Lyon, who claimed 11 wickets in the match, Rohit said: &quot;I think he should be at the top in my opinion, because obviously I&#39;ve not played guys like Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan) and Shane Warne and all those guys, but to me, in the current crop, probably the No. 1 bowler from overseas to come and play here in India, because he&#39;s got so much consistency in his line and length, doesn&#39;t give you too much.&quot;When someone&#39;s bowling with that accuracy, you&#39;ve got to try and do something different, find your ways of scoring runs against him, because you know that he&#39;s not going to give you anything easy, so you&#39;ve got to try and put him under pressure a little bit, and people will have their own way of doing it.&nbsp;&quot;This is probably his third tour to India. The first two tours, I was not part of the team, but I was watching the game, got wickets as well in the previous tour, and then now obviously, he&#39;s played so much cricket as well, for Australia, very experienced bowler, he&#39;s not afraid of getting hit, that is something that I&#39;ve noticed.&nbsp;&quot;That gives him a lot of confidence, and that gives the captain as well a lot of confidence that I&#39;ve got a guy who can just not worry about anything, I know he&#39;s going to pitch it there and let the pitch do the rest for him. When you have someone like that, it gives you a lot of confidence as a whole, as a team.&quot;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The Indian captain said his batters weren't brave enough against Australian spinners 

On pitches like this, you need a Shreyas Iyer kind of innings: Rohit

If there were only one team who could get past India in India, it had to be Australia.No. This is not a conclusion drawn from the benefit of hindsight after <a href="https://www.cricket.com/match-score/219594/summary/ind-vs-aus-3rd-test-australia-tour-of-india-2023" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">India&rsquo;s loss in the Indore Test</a>. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy of 2017 was fiercely contested on even terms, and Australia came agonizingly close to beating India in Bengaluru, which could have sealed the series in their favor. In 2023, they had the resources to pull the brakes, and they did in a stunning fashion in Indore to seal a place in the WTC final.Most of India&rsquo;s wins in the last 10 years in home conditions have been orchestrated by their batters&rsquo; mastery in playing the spinners and the spinners&rsquo; mastery to not let any opposition batter dictate the course of the game. But looking at the way they surrendered in Indore told a very different story.&nbsp;Batters&rsquo; dwindling returns against spinIndian top and middle order boast the likes of Rohit Sharma, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/3896/cheteshwar-pujara/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cheteshwar Pujara</a>, Virat Kohli, and <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/63961/shreyas-iyer/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Shreyas Iyer</a>. These four are as good as it gets in any conditions, but the recent stories don&rsquo;t paint a rosy picture. Especially for Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara. The pattern has been so stinking that you would argue that it would be wise to drop both batters for someone fresher.&nbsp;In 20 Tests since January 2021, Kohli averages 26.82 with five half-centuries. In the last 13 innings, he doesn&rsquo;t even have a single half-century to show against his name. Surely, he looked good in patches - like in the first innings of the Indore Test - but the dire run of form is so prolonged that nothing other than a string of big scores could save him going forward.&nbsp;<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1677835272457-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">That he has a distinctive body of work and showed signs of his old avatar in limited-overs cricket made Virat Kohli the sustainable force, but the lack of assertiveness in his prodding and a definitive sense of struggle against spinners would count against him.&nbsp;Then comes Pujara. His defensive techniques are tight, but on wickets where every ball seems like a war against luck, the defence could only take you so far. It needs to be backed by runs, and Pujara has found himself wanting in that regard.&nbsp;<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1677835409852-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">In <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/starring-at-the-abyss-pujaras-career-dwells-on-the-line-1677769037423" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">my previous column</a>, I argued how Pujara&rsquo;s ability to make amends in the second innings should be celebrated a little more, but Test matches are not only won in one innings. Collective reinforcements are needed, and India strongly lack that at this moment. Hence, the Indore loss is a predicament waiting to be explored on a day the team found negligible runs from Ashwin, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/3850/ravindra-jadeja/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jadeja</a>, and Axar&rsquo;s bats. Talk about a bigger disappointment!Spinners trying too muchIn the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Ravichandran Ashwin found a lot of success by employing a leg slip against Aussie right-handers, and that caused a lot of nuisance for them. Not a lot of bowlers understand the Indian conditions better, but Ashwin going about his business in Indore without employing a leg slip, that too while bowling a defensive length begged questions about the tactics of the team.On the first day, after bundling out for 109, Indian bowlers tried to do too much without asking probing questions. That also brings certain calls made by Rohit Sharma to the fore. With the wicket offering variable bouncer, not bringing Umesh Yadav to the attack frequently, and holding back Axar Patel, whose accurate lines could have been the key, proved to be decisive.The Pitch factorHistorically Indian pitches tend to support the batters on the first two days and then flatten out as it goes along. But in the last couple of years, especially from the second Test against England in Chennai, India have preferred to prepare turning tracks that could kill the contest faster.While there&rsquo;s nothing wrong with taking home advantage, it has now worked against India&rsquo;s favour. With Indian batters showing complete vulnerability against spin, a side with decent spinners could cause problems, as Australia did. Pune 2017, Bengaluru 2017, Indore 2023 and umpteen chances in between, India have had to rely on their spinners to do the heavy lifting.&nbsp;It is futile and unnecessary because Indian spinners are anyway good enough to put the opposition in a spot on traditional Indian wickets.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1677835686471-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">&ldquo;It is not always about making sure we are playing on flat pitches, and results don&rsquo;t come your way. Pakistan, there were Test matches there and people said it was boring, We are making it interesting for you guys,&rdquo; Rohit said in the post-match press conference, but the reality couldn&rsquo;t be farther from the truth.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

India might have been an indomitable force at home, but there have been a few glaring issues in the side that needs an immediate solution

Cheteshwar Pujara

Ravindra Jadeja

India’s Indore loss - one-off or long-time in making?

Australia displayed a dominant show in all three facets of the game to clinch the third Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Holkar Stadium in Indore by nine wickets in the first session of Day three.&nbsp;With the win, the visiting side have also sealed their place in the final of the World Test Championship set to take place in June at the Oval. <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/4308/steven-smith/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Steve Smith</a>, who was leading Australia in the third Test in the absence of <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/56964/pat-cummins/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pat Cummins</a>, shared his insights on the performance of the team in this game.&nbsp;&quot;The break came a good time for us. We were obviously disappointed with the way things ended particularly in the last game and failing to take our opportunities, and knowing after that second test we can&#39;t actually win the series. It&#39;s about taking the result out of play, have faith in our methods for long enough, we&#39;re good enough players to get the results we&#39;re after more often than not,&quot; Smith said in the post-match press conference.&quot;I think obviously that first day, losing the toss and having to bowl first but our bowlers did really well, specially <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/65047/matthew-kuhnemann/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kuhnemann</a>. With the bat, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/10048/usman-khawaja/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Usman&nbsp;</a>was really good in the first innings, and we had some good partnerships. India bowled really well in the back end, we had a bit of a collapse,&quot; he said.&nbsp;The Australian skipper also stated that he likes leading the side in this part of the world as he understands the conditions very well, which helps him in his decision-making.&nbsp;&quot;We had to toil hard yesterday, Pujji played a good knock, but all our bowlers did really well. It was a complete performance in the end. We are thinking of Patty back home, and our thoughts are with him. But I really enjoyed this week. I like captaining in this part of the world. I think I understand a lot of the intricacies. It&#39;s a place where I really enjoy, and I think I did a reasonable job this week,&quot; he said.&nbsp;My time is done as captain. It&#39;s Pat&#39;s team now. I&#39;ve obviously been able to stand in this week, obviously in tough circumstances with Patty going home. Our thoughts are still with him back home as well. Look, India is a part of the world I love captaining. It&#39;s a game of chess, every ball means something. it&#39;s good to just move people and trying to make the batter do something different and, and just play games with them. It&#39;s probably my favourite place in the world to captain,&quot; he further added.&nbsp;Australia have a chance to level the series in Ahmedabad starting March 9, and Smith believes the approach of the team will remain the same from the visiting side.&nbsp;&quot;The approach will be much the same. We have to see what the conditions are like. It&#39;s good to be in the WTC final, but it&#39;s just about playing good cricket. Hopefully, we can finish the series well,&quot; he concluded.&nbsp;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

With a nine-wicket win against India, Australia are through to the summit clash of the World Test Championship in June

Steven Smith

Nathan Lyon

Pat Cummins

 Proud to clinch a spot in the WTC final: Steve Smith 

Australia have bounced back in a commanding fashion in the ongoing edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to clinch the third Test at the Holkar Stadium in Indore by nine wickets and secure their spot in the World Test Championship final in June.&nbsp;After bundling out India for 163 runs in the second innings, the visiting side needed only 76 runs to win at the start of Day three. Despite getting off to a horrendous start as they lost<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/10048/usman-khawaja/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;Usman Khawaja</a> on the second delivery of the day.&nbsp;However, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/62023/travis-head/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Travis Head</a> and <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/65083/marnus-labuschagne/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Marnus Labuschagne</a> steadied the innings and forged an unbeaten 78-run stand for the second wicket to power Australia over the line.&nbsp;In the post-match presentation, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/3852/rohit-sharma/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rohit Sharma</a> stated that lack of runs in the first innings led to India&#39;s downfall. &quot;When you lose a Test match, there&#39;s a lot of things that didn&#39;t go our way. To start with, we didn&#39;t bat well in the first innings. We understand how important it is to put runs on the board in the first innings,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;And obviously when they got an 80-90 run lead, we needed to put in a big performance with the bat but we couldn&#39;t do that, taking just a 75-run lead. Honestly, we haven&#39;t thought about it yet,&quot; he further added.&nbsp;The 35-year-old also believed that India were not brave in their approach in this game and allowed the Australian bowlers to bowl at one particular spot, making it difficult to score runs on the challenging surface.&nbsp;&quot;When you are playing on challenging pitches you have to be brave. We allowed their bowlers to bowl in one spot. Not to take any credit away from their bowlers, Nathan Lyon especially. We had to try and be brave, which I think we were not,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;We can take a lot of credit as well, how we batted in the first two games. One odd game can happen where things don&#39;t come together, but even then you need players to come together and chip in. We were slightly behind, and we did not apply ourselves the way we would have liked to,&quot; he said.&nbsp;With the Test match ending in just over two days, there has been plenty of question marks revolving around the pitch, but Rohit believes it is the skill of the players that resulted in an early finish.&nbsp;&quot;This pitch talk is getting too much. Every time we play in India it&#39;s always about the pitch. It&#39;s about skills, and I prefer this more than just a genuine flat wicket that goes five days and can be boring in stages,&quot; he said in the post-match press conference.&nbsp;&quot;There&#39;s always something happening on these wickets, and you&#39;ve got to really work hard for your runs,&quot; he concluded.&nbsp;India lead the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1, and the last Test match will be played from March 9 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.&nbsp;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The Indian skipper also rued lack of runs in the first innings as the reason behind India's defeat

IND vs AUS Test 3rd Test, Australia tour of India, 2023 - Commentary

IND VS AUS,3rd Test

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