Boxing Day Test: Truth of MCG Pitch Conspiracy Claim Against India

Before the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne, tensions between Australia and India grew even more after the touring team expressed dissatisfaction with the practice pitches at the Melbourne Cricket Ground's (MCG) outdoor nets. Matt Page, the stadium pitch curator, explained that new pitches for the Test match were only constructed three days before the game, suggesting that Team India's pre-match practice at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) ahead of the Boxing Day Test may not have gone as planned.

India arrived in Melbourne about a week before the Test, and it appears that they spent several days rehearsing on unsuitable fields. Despite raising rumours of a conspiracy against the Indian team, MCG curator Matt Page put an end to them by outlining the "standard procedure" that underpinned it.

Boxing Day Test insiders:

The Australian squad will be practising on new tracks on Saturday and Sunday, but the Indian team will be given used practice pitches with low bounce and speed, according to a report in Dainik Jagran. Fans felt this was discriminatory. Page was quoted saying, "For us, three days out, we prepare Test match pitches for here. If teams come and train before that, they get what pitches we have had. Today (Monday), we are on fresh pitches. If India had trained this morning, they would have been on those fresh pitches. It's stock standard procedure for us, three days out."

India's approach, meanwhile, has been subpar in a number of respects. During practice, Akash Deep and skipper Rohit Sharma suffered injuries to their bodies on low-bouncing, uneven fields. Due to the Indian team's practice pitch conditions, the tourists nearly suffered two serious injury setbacks. The Indian skipper was hit on the right leg by a low ball from a throwdown specialist on Sunday, causing Rohit Sharma to sustain a knee injury. The 37-year-old used an ice pack on his sore area for about 30 minutes while watching the drill. 

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