'ICC needs to step in': Former Australian skipper furious over 'watering' of Nagpur pitch

Following the culmination of the Nagpur Test in just three days, a former Asutralian skipper has criticised the VCA staff for excessive watering of the pitch. India won the first Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy handing Australia a huge loss by innings and 132 runs. India lead the series 1-0.

As per Ian Healy, "“It’s really embarrassing the scuppering of our plans to get some practice sessions on that Nagpur wicket. That’s not good, that’s just not good for cricket. The ICC needs to step in here. For them to water the wicket unceremoniously when it was requested for practice is horrible and that has to improve,” Healy said while speaking on SEN Radio on Monday morning.

India vs Australia: Nagpur Test summary

After falling apart on the first day, Australia could only manage to score 177. India in reply were 77/1 i at stumpts on day 1. On day 2, India continued from 77/1. Captain Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin, who came in as a nightwatchman at the end of the first day, took India past the 100-run mark comfortably. However, as the partnership was beginning to take the game away from Australia, Ashwin fell to Todd Murphy. Afterward, wickets continued to fall at regular intervals, yet Sharma went strong from one end. In the process, Rohit scored his maiden 100 against Australia. He also eventually got out not before taking India past the total of Australia. Just as it looked that Australia is not completely out of the game, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel came together to formulate an unbeaten 81 runs. As a result India currently stands at 321/7, leading by 144 runs. For Australia, Todd Murphy turned out to be the knight in shining armor as he has picked five-for on debut.  

Continuing the momentum from Day 2, on Day 3 India took the lead past 200 and scored 400 in the first innings. With a scintillating knock of 84 Axar Patel scored the second-highest runs in the innings. Approaching the lead of 223, Australia suffered an early blow in the second innings as Usman Khawaja went cheaply. Following that the spinners took the control of the game and did not let any player settle. Australia reeled throughout the innings and after continuous falling of wickets, it quickly became apparent that loss is imminent for Australia. Australia bundled out at 91 and lost the first match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by an inning and 132 runs. With this India are 1-0 in the series.