'Why have spinners at all?' - Rahul Dravid criticizes 'average' ODI World Cup 2023 pitch ratings for Ahmedabad and Chennai

Rahul Dravid, the head coach of the Indian cricket team, has expressed his dissatisfaction over the 'average' rating given to the pitches in Chennai and Ahmedabad. Notably, these ratings were given by the cricket's apex governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC) for India's games against Pakistan and Australia played in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023. Dravid, renowned for his cricketing knowledge, believes that one-day international (ODI) pitches should not solely focus on high-scoring games but should instead showcase a variety of skills.

'The Wall's critique followed the release of the ICC's pitch and outfield ratings, which categorized the Chennai and Ahmedabad surfaces as 'average.' Despite India's spinners wreaking havoc and restricting both Australia and Pakistan to sub-200 scores in these matches, Dravid respectfully disagreed with the rating.

"I will definitely respectfully disagree with the average rating given for those two wickets. I think they were good wickets. Maybe I will answer this in English because I might get myself into trouble by saying something," Dravid was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz ahead of India's game against New Zealand to be played in Dharamsala.

The former Indian cricketer challenged the notion that high-scoring encounters are the only indication of a good pitch. Rahul Dravid further emphasized the importance of appreciating various cricketing skills, such as spin bowling, strike rotation, and effective batting, rather than just focusing on boundaries and sixes. He highlighted that adapting to different conditions is crucial in a long tournament like the World Cup, and standardizing pitches to favour batters would undermine the role of bowlers.

"I disagree with that because I think we should see all skills on display, the ability to rotate strike through the middle. See the quality of watching [Ravindra] Jadeja bowl or a [Mitchell] Santner bowl or a [Adam] Zampa bowl or watching Kane Williamson rotate the strike through the middle... Virat Kohli and KL Rahul the way they batted against Australia. Those are skills as well. Those also need to come out and be shown and be displayed," the Indian head coach continued.

"Some of the wickets, even we have played, I mean, honestly, in Delhi and Pune, rotating the strike in the middle overs wasn't necessarily a very difficult skill. The contest was about who could hit more fours and sixes. So that's not the only way, in my opinion, respectfully, to be able to judge wickets. I think we need to have a better way of deciding what is good and average," Dravid added further.

Rahul Dravid questions ICC over 'good' ratings given to Australian pitches in T20I World Cup

Furthermore, to support his arguments, Rahul Dravid mentioned examples of T20 games played on challenging pitches, like Perth, where India scored only 133 due to bounce and seam movement, and the ICC T20 World Cup final where Pakistan and England played on a pitch that yielded only 130 runs. Despite the lower scores, these pitches were rated 'good,' demonstrating that different skills come into play under such conditions.

In essence, Dravid advocates for diverse pitches that challenge players and promote a wide range of cricketing skills. He firmly believes that a 'one-size-fits-all' approach to pitches hinders the growth and development of the sport by favouring a specific set of skills while neglecting others.