India vs Australia: Is MCG Curator's Pitch Prediction Bad News for Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli Ahead Of Boxing Day Test

India vs Australia five-match test series is perfectly balanced at 1-1 after the first three tests. With the next game at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground(MCG), curator Matt Page offered some valuable insights that might not really augur well for the Indian batters, who have not been in the best of form. According to Page, in a bid to make the game more competitive, the curators leave a decent amount of grass on the pitch so that bowlers can get the bite.

"I guess we've been really happy with what we've served up over the last couple of years. We don't see any reason to change that. I guess we've seen three fantastic Test matches so far on three great pitches. So for us, it's about trying to do something similar to what we've done in recent years and creating a thrilling contest," Page told reporters at the MCG.

"Seven years ago, we were quite flat. We sat down as an organization and decided we wanted to create more exciting contests and Test matches. So we leave more grass on the pitches now. That brings the bowlers into play more, but they're still good for batting once the new ball softens. We've been running at six millimeters the last couple of years. We'll monitor that as we go, but we've been really happy with the results recently. So for us, it's a rinse-and-repeat job," Page was quoted as saying by TOI.

When asked about whether spinners will come into play, Page said: "Spinners? Oh, it doesn't really break up and spin here. If you look at our long-format games over the last four or five years, they've been more seam-friendly than spin-friendly. So I don't see that changing here."

"We haven't altered our pitches because of the balls. Basically, as I said, we sat down seven years ago after 2017 and discussed where we wanted to go as an organization and what we wanted to be renowned for—producing Test matches that provide a thrilling contest.

"We aim to give bowlers opportunities at various points in the game while also giving batters a chance if they play well. So we experimented with our grass levels, compaction, and moisture, which took about three years to fine-tune. Over the last two or three years, we've been consistent in what we've rolled out, leaving a bit more grass on the pitches than we used to. It's provided thrilling contests, and that's what we want to do.

Hence, for Indian batters, especially skipper Rohit Sharma, this will not be good news as he is struggling for runs and seems woefully out of form. Kohli, too, has had his fair share of troubles when the ball moves a bit off the surface. Hence, it will be an interesting challenge for the Indian batters.

India's record at the MCG in Boxing Day Tests is not really a promising one either with four wins and 11 defeats.

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