Sunil Gavaskar has called out the hypocrisy in the way Test pitches are judged after Australia won their second Test against Bangladesh inside two days at Mackay. Writing in his Sportstar column on 25th
August, the former India captain pointed to the four two-day finishes in Australia in recent years and the absence of criticism aimed at those trampoline-bounce surfaces. He said the usual excuses would come quickly and the blame would be put on groundsmen or the batters simply lacked the technique to handle the bounce. Gavaskar also said that the Mackay pitch was no accident. After Bangladesh’s nine-wicket win in the first Test in Darwin, Australia prepared a fast, bouncy track that suited their strengths.
“If a game finishes in three days in India, there’ll be all kinds of derogatory reports and insinuations made about the pitches, BCCI and Indian cricket. The hypocrisy is so brazen that it is simply mind-boggling,” he wrote. When overseas batters struggle against spin, the pitch is blamed for hidden demons. When they fail against pace, the fault is laid at the players’ feet.
Sunil Gavaskar said, “if a game finishes in 3 days in India, there’ll be all kinds of derogatory reports and insinuations made about the pitches, BCCI and Indian cricket. The hypocrisy is so brazen that it is simply mind-boggling. The usual excuse of ineptitude against fast… pic.twitter.com/ZNwIxyIhQ5
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 25, 2026
Sunil Gavaskar Questions Match Referee’s Likely Rating for Mackay Pitch
Sunil Gavaskar has also questioned the likely rating from the match referee, suggesting referees often seek approval from media in the old cricket powers and that the Mackay surface would probably escape any adverse mark. Australian players already know they have little to worry about as the pitch will not be rated bad.
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"It will be interesting to see the report and rating for the Mackay pitch by the match referee. There’s generally been a desire among the referees to get brownie points from the media of the old powers, so it won’t be a surprise if there’s no adverse rating for the Mackay pitch just as we have seen for similar two-day finishes in recent years.” he wrote
Gavaskar also said that there are different yardsticks applied to batters and bowlers across conditions and said that playing spin demands more skill yet receives less credit than success on seaming tracks. Australia won the second match by an innings-and-51-run victory and levelled the series 1-1 against Bangladesh. The visitors were bowled out for less than 100 in both the innings and Mitchell Starc was the player of the match.
