Rohit wants 'mouths shut' about Indian pitches after Cape Town fiasco

Rohit Sharma went on overdrive while addressing the post-match press conference despite India defeating South Africa by seven wickets to register their maiden Test victory at Cape Town. 

The India captain let it rip on the Newlands wicket on which 23 wickets fell inside two days. The Test lasted only 107 overs, handing India and South Africa the distinction of playing the shortest-ever Test match in its 147-year history. 

Across four-and-a half-sessions, a string of bizarre scenes unfolded. Mohammed Siraj picked up 6/15 to skittle South Africa for 55. India, from 153/4, lost the next six wickets without a run added. Dean Elgar, Tristan Stubbs and Tony de Zorzi got out twice on the same day. Stunning.

A visibly furious Rohit did not hold back in his assessment and pointed out that while he and the Indian team had absolutely no issues playing on such pitches, he wants the onlookers to 'keep their mouths shut' while talking about matches being played on Indian soil. The Indore pitch on which the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was played last year was given a 'below-average' rating by the ICC and even the surface in Ahmedabad, on which the World Cup final was played on deemed 'average'. So clearly, Rohit did not hold back.

"I mean, we saw what happened in this match, how the pitch played and stuff like that. I honestly don't mind playing on pitches like this. As long as everyone keeps their mouth shut in India and don't talk too much about Indian pitches, honestly," a fired-up Rohit told reporters.

"Because you come here [in Test cricket] to challenge yourself. Yes, it is dangerous. It is challenging. So, and when people come to India, it is again pretty challenging as well. Look, when you are here to play Test cricket, we talk about Test cricket, the ultimate prize, Test cricket being the pinnacle and stuff like that. I think it's important that we also stand by it."

In the past, several Indian legends, including Sunil Gavaskar, have been critical of fingers being pointed only on India and its pitches, while claiming that other countries go unnoticed. Last year, the Gabba Test between Australia and South Africa had played out similarly with the home team beating the Proteas by six wickets inside two days. It was a pitch that was also criticised by Dean Elgar and dished out a 'below average' rating by the ICC.

"When you are put up against, a challenge like that, you come and face it. That's what happens in India, but, in India on day one, if the pitch starts turning, people start talking about 'Puff of dust! Puff of dust!' There's so much crack here on the pitch. People are not looking at that," Rohit went on.

As India came out to bat to chase down 79, which given the nature of the surface, seemed nothing less than 150, Rohit got a delivery from Rabada which perfectly summed up how the deck was behaving. The ball pitched on one of the cracks and took off to strike Rohit on a part of his gloves and into the abdomen. The India captain looked up in disbelief and nearly slammed his bat on the wicket in anger. And went all out in expressing it roughly 45 minutes later.

"I think it's important that we stay neutral everywhere we go. Especially the match referees. You know, some of these match referees need to keep their eye on how they rate pitches. It's quite important. I still can't believe that the World Cup final pitch was rated below average. A batsman got a hundred there in the final. How can that be a poor pitch? So these are the things the ICC, the match referees, they need to look into and start rating pitches based on what they see, not based on the countries. I think that's quite important," added the India captain while taking a dig at the ICC and its rating practice of pitches.

"So I hope they keep their ears open, they keep their eyes open and look into those aspects of the game. Honestly, I'm all for pitches like this. We want to challenge playing on pitches like this. We pride ourselves playing on pitches like this. Uh, but all I wanna say is be neutral."