
Sunil Gavaskar has lashed out at the Mackay pitch used for the second Test between Australia and Bangladesh, calling the surface unfit and accusing cricket administrators of hypocrisy. The legendary opener said…
Sunil Gavaskar has lashed out at the Mackay pitch used for the second Test between Australia and Bangladesh, calling the surface unfit and accusing cricket administrators of hypocrisy. The legendary opener said that if an Indian Test match had ended inside two days, it would have drawn widespread condemnation from the global cricket establishment.

The match saw Bangladesh bowled out for 74 in the first innings and 95 in the second, with Australia reaching the target of 86 with six wickets in hand to win inside two days. Gavaskar contrasted the silence over the Mackay track with the criticism Indian pitches routinely face when matches finish early, arguing that the same standards are not applied universally.
The former India captain's remarks add to the debate over pitch standards across countries. The International Cricket Council will assess the surface and issue a rating in due course.
The ICC pitch-rating system assigns demerit points for poor surfaces, and three demerits trigger a one-year ban from hosting international cricket. Since 2018, only two Indian venues, the Holkar Stadium in Indore and the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur, have been rated 'poor' by the International Cricket Council. Gavaskar's outburst revives the long-running debate over double standards in pitch criticism, where subcontinental wickets are routinely labelled dustbowls while bouncy Australian tracks escape similar scrutiny. The match referee will file a rating report, and its public release will show whether the ICC holds all venues to the same standard.
Source: sports.ndtv.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.