Ian Healy takes a dig at Indian pitch curators, predicts scoreline of upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Former Australia stumper-batter Ian Healy has taken a subtle jibe at Indian pitch curators and has also asked them not to prepare ‘unreasonable wickets’ in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The 58-year-old stated that if India eventually prepares spin-friendly tracks, then the Rohit Sharma-led side might win the series 2-1.

He also mentioned that India produced terrible and unfair pitches the last time Australia played a Test series in India. He said that it only favours the Indian cricketers and it shouldn’t be promoted once again.

“They (India) have got a good team but I'm not too scared of their spinners unless they produce unreasonable wickets. If they produce unreasonable wickets like they did half the series last time (we won't win), two wickets were just terrible, unfair, spinners jumping over your head on day one,” Healy was quoted as saying by SEN on Monday. 

“So that type of thing they will play better on than we will, but if they get flat wickets that India used to put out, nice flat batting wickets and bowlers have to work really hard, I think we can do it. But (my prediction is) 2-1 India, if (Mitchell) Starc's unavailable in the first Test,” the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

Notably, the four-match Test series is going to be extremely crucial for the Indian team. They currently rank second in the World Test Championship points table but if they fail to win the series, Rohit Sharma’s men can eventually lose their spot in the finals of the competition. The Australian team is currently at the top slot and needs just a few more points to guarantee their place in the final.

Meanwhile, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is a four-match Test series between India and Australia that will begin on February 9. The first game is scheduled to be played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur, while the second, third, and fourth will be played at Delhi, Dharamsala, and Ahmedabad respectively.

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS App Store and Google Play Store