Jimmy Neesham accuses India of ‘blatantly doctoring’ wickets at home following pitch debate after 78 all out

New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham nearly accused India of pitch doctoring as, amid England’s excellent bowling and visitors’ disastrous 78 all out on Day 1 of the Headingley Test, the discussion somehow shifted to the track on offer in Leeds. While there wasn’t anything prodigious swing or seam movement on offer for the English seamers, […]
 By Kashish Chadha Aug 25, 2021, 21:46 IST
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Jimmy Neesham accuses India of ‘blatantly doctoring’ wickets at home following pitch debate after 78 all out

New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham nearly accused India of pitch doctoring as, amid England’s excellent bowling and visitors’ disastrous 78 all out on Day 1 of the Headingley Test, the discussion somehow shifted to the track on offer in Leeds.

While there wasn’t anything prodigious swing or seam movement on offer for the English seamers, they still managed to create uncertainty outside off-stump and induced multiple errors that led to the Indian batsmen’s downfall.

Managing to sneak through to lunch at 58/4, India added only another 20 runs to their total after the break at the loss of their last six wickets.

At this point in time, while one half of the cricketing world raved over England’s class bowling, the other criticised India’s batting unit for their disappointing show.

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Jimmy Neesham accuses India of ‘blatantly doctoring’ wickets at home following pitch debate after 78 all out

 

Jimmy Neesham accuses India of ‘blatantly doctoring’ wickets at home following pitch debate after 78 all out

Jimmy Neesham makes a controversial statement on Indian surfaces.

 

Jimmy Neesham throws up contentious claim regarding Indian tracks

Amidst all that, renowned journalist Tim Wigmore wondered if the surface would have been in focus a lot more had this collapse was in India and England were at the receiving end of some unrelenting bowling? As was the case when Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin feasted against English batsmen in the final three Tests of the series in February-March.

This is where Neesham started conversing and argued, as those from abroad have tended to, that the only ideal surface for Test match cricket is the one that turns on the final couple of days and not from the very beginning.

“Is this not obvious? A pitch that seams on day 1/2 then is good for batting days 3/4 then good for spin on days 4/5 is perfect. Everyone is in the game at different points. If it spins on day 1 it’s just a spinner’s paradise for 5 days. That’s shit,” Jimmy Neesham tweeted.

 

And even asked if he wants no variety in Test match surfaces across the world, Neesham responded: “Variety is fine and the different conditions in each country will always provide differing surfaces. It will always swing and seam in England and always spin in India.”

“It gets a bit suss when home teams just blatantly doctor their own wickets to a ridiculous level,” he added in a controversial implication that India “doctor” their surfaces for their spinners to flourish and take bagful of wickets.

 

Following this, Jimmy Neesham started receiving quite a few counter-arguments from fans over Twitter. But the cricketer remained firm over his stance.

 

This is, of course, not the first time that Neesham has found himself in the midst of a controversial debate following a statement over social media. The cricketer has previously also had multiple instances when he has had to face the wrath of passionate fans over an opinion.

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