Former South Africa all-rounder Chris Morris has backed Indian captain Rohit Sharma for his comments on foreign nations criticizing India for producing spinning tracks for home advantage. Morris claimed that Rohit’s comments were absolutely justified given every country creates pitches that suit them and put touring nations under pressure.
In a recent interview, Chris Morris who was once the most expensive player in the IPL, spoke about a lot of things from Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc landing crazy IPL deals to the emergence of South Africa’s domestic SA20 league. Among those topics was the highly controversial pitch in Cape Town which hosted the 2nd Test between India and South Africa earlier this month.
The Newlands Cricket Ground pitch produced an unnatural bounce and was a tailor-made pitch for bowlers. So much so that it created several records, some of them quite uncanny as well. On Day 1, a total of 23 wickets fell which became the 2nd highest number of wickets fell in a single day of a Test match and saw 3 innings played out in 3 sessions.
South Africa’s first innings total of 55 also ended up as one of their worst totals in a Test. Last but not the least, it was the shortest Test match ever in the history of red-ball cricket, not even lasting 2 entire days and taking only 642 balls for a result to come out.
It created a lot of buzz all around the world as everyone were shocked to see India producing a comeback of that sort right after losing a Test match by an innings and 32 runs. Former Indian cricketers even called the Newlands track a “disgrace” before the ICC gave its “Unsatisfactory” rating as well.
Chris Morris Says Rohit Has Hit The Nerve With His Comments And Claims Indians Were Better In The Series
During the press conference after the 2nd Test, visiting captain Rohit Sharma while speaking about the Cape Town pitch, claimed that his side doesn’t have any problems playing in these types of conditions as long as visiting teams in India keep their mouths shut about them exploiting home advantages. His comments created quite a lot of stir and Chris Morris has become the latest to comment.
“Rohit hit the nail on the head. He said that he does not mind Test pitches like these if people do not criticise turning pitches in India. If you want to prepare more pitches suitable for you and your personal performances, then why not? I would have loved to see some more cricket, some more contest. I would have loved to see Dean Elgar go out with a win, but that is cricket, someone has to lose,” Chris Morris told ANI.
“That brings out the best in both of us if we play against each other. It was a great series, equal at some stages. Sometimes, conditions were different. We could have had more in Cape Town. But you have to put the ball in a right area like Indians did, they got better of us. Best against the best, it was an excellent series,” Chris Morris concluded.