'Keep mouths shut about Indian pitches' - Rohit Sharma slams conditions after Test victory in Cape Town
Rohit singled out the match referees and some of the ratings pitches received in last year's World Cup, held in India.
Rohit Sharma has expressed his criticism towards the ICC and match referees, highlighting the disparity in pitch assessments. Following the conclusion of the shortest Test match in the sport's history which India won due to a pitch heavily favoring seam bowlers, Rohit strongly condemned the criticism directed at pitches in India.
"I mean, we saw what happened in this match, how the pitch played and stuff like that," Rohit said. "I honestly don't mind playing on pitches like this. As long as everyone keeps their mouth shut in India and don't talk too much about Indian pitches, honestly."
Specifically addressing the match referees and the pitch ratings assigned during last year's World Cup held in India, Rohit pointed out the absence of spin bowling in the recent two-Test series against South Africa.
Rohit Sharma defends Indian pitches
In both Tests, South Africa refrained from using spin and India only bowled 19 overs of it in the first Test, completely avoiding it in the second. Rohit questioned the bias against pitches that offer turn on certain days, emphasizing the need to reconsider the perception that a turning pitch is inferior to one with seam movement.
Rohit added, "And in India as well, we know that the conditions in India will spin without a doubt, but obviously people don't like it because it spins from day one. But that's not the point. If the ball seams from ball one, that's okay, right, for everyone? That's not fair. The ball starts spinning from ball one, it should be okay, in my opinion."
This series against South Africa marks a significant achievement as India managed to draw a Test series in the rainbow nation for the first time since the 2010/11 season, with Rohit Sharma becoming the only captain after Dhoni to achieve this feat.
ALSO READ: WATCH: Siraj forgets translator Jasprit Bumrah during post-match ceremony
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.