Mitchell Starc, Ben Stokes, Simon Harmer and Rishabh Pant (Image Agency) The Ashes Test in Perth erupted into a full-blown debate on social media after the match ended two days later. England were bowled out for 172 in their first innings. Hosts Australia were then reduced to 123/9 in 39 overs at stumps, resulting in 19 wickets on the opening day. On Day 2, England again had 164 wickets. The second day then witnessed 13 wickets as Australia won the opening match by 8 wickets. Predictably, fans and pundits have asked themselves a pointed question: why is the reaction different when such collapses occur outside India?Aakash Chopra set the tone with a scathing post on X: “Such a result on a subcontinental pitch would mean the death of Test cricket.”
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Ravichandran Ashwin added a sarcastic touch: “Only 19 wickets in Perth today, but a great day’s cricket. But no. What if the same thing happens in Guwahati tomorrow?”
R post by Ashwin
Dinesh Karthik asked a basic question: “Is it fair to say that people like to see pacers take wickets on spicy pitches rather than spinners on spinners? And if so, why?”
contributed by Dinesh Karthik
Their frustration stemmed from an old, real grievance. When Tests in India end quickly at corners, criticism from abroad is often intense. And yet, when the ball is seamed and zipped in England, New Zealand or Australia, the same scrutiny rarely happens.However, the Perth Test also brought a twist. Travis Head came on as a reliever in the second inning and definitely proved that this is not an unplayable field. His 69-ball century changed the whole story and showed why the pitch cannot be placed in the same bracket as the recent Eden Gardens surface.
Match: A two-day roller coaster
England led by four sessions. Mitchell Starc took 7 for 58 to bowl them out for 172. Australia replied with just 132, Ben Stokes taking five wickets and England 65/1 in the second innings. Then came the collapse. Three wickets fell for 76. Root failed again. Stokes broke away. England then bowled out for 164.
Australia’s Mitchell Starc celebrates England captain Ben Stokes’ wicket (AP Photo/Gary Day)
Set 205 to win, Head went crazy. He smashed 123 off 83 balls with 16 fours and four sixes. Marnus Labuschagne finished unbeaten on 51. Australia won by eight wickets with three days remaining.The numbers looked extreme:Thirty two wickets.673 runs.141 overs.Chaotic, yes. Unplayable, no. And that is the key difference.
Perth’s field improved as the game progressed
The Perth pitch is generally known for its high, bouncy pace, but it also improves for batting as the days go by. Even the last match played in BGT between India and Australia saw the same. Batting first, India were bundled out for 150. Australia were all out for 104 thanks to a stunning spell from Jasprit Bumrah, but the turnaround came when India posted 487/6 with hundreds from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli. The pitch, which looked unplayable, gradually leveled even during that time.The field started hard and spicy on Day 1, but gradually leveled off. Mornings and before tea have been consistently better for batting. The same thing happened again in this Test in Perth: a pitch that looked unplayable slowly settled down. This is why Head was able to dominate with clean and confident moves once the surface was loose.A pitch that softens is part of normal Test cricket.
The Eden Gardens pitch was underprepared and in poor condition from the first ball
The Kolkata surface in the recent India Vs. South Africa behaved very differently.
- It turned around from the first hour.
- It had an inconsistent bounce.
- It discouraged skill and rewarded luck.
- It kept getting worse as the match progressed.
This is the opposite of the pattern in Perth, where the ball moved violently early but became truer as time went on.Seam vs spin is not a real issue. Predictability and fairness are. There is nothing wrong with a height that favors spin or seam. A pitch only becomes a problem when:
- the reflection becomes unpredictable
- the tempo becomes variable
- skill becomes secondary to survival
- surfaces behave contrary to expected standards
In Perth, the movements and bounces were crisp but consistent. Batsmen were beaten by quality bowling, not haphazard behaviour.In Eden, the shifting reflection meant that even the best defensive technique could not guarantee survival.The proof is in Travis Head’s inningsA pitch cannot be called unplayable if someone scores a century at a strike rate of nearly 150 against a quality pace attack.
Australia’s Travis Head (AP Photo/Gary Day)
The head attack was not reckless. It was controlled, highly skilled batting on a surface that was slowly settling.
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India lost the Eden Test by 30 runs. The match was exciting. An even bigger question remained: was it good for Test cricket?Not all turning lanes are bad. But undercooked with inconsistent rebounding hurt both teams.This was a trend at times:
- Indore vs Australia in 2023
- Pune vs New Zealand in 2024
- Mumbai vs New Zealand in 2024
- The recent Eden Gardens Test against South Africa
India have lost all these Tests and it is not normal for the hosts to lose a home Test. For example, since Virat Kohli became captain (2014–2022), India have lost only two Tests under him in seven years. Each of these defeats revealed a painful truth: India is no longer the best player of the spin. The rank bowlers elevate the visiting spinners, narrowing the gap between the teams and creating more chaos than competition.India’s power is in the balance today. Bumrah and Siraj are world class. Jadeja, Kuldeep, Axar and Washington bring elite variety.This attack can win on good cricket wickets that last four or five days. India’s spin options are already so good that they don’t need to adjust the pitch; these wickets bring the opposition into play and even reward bowlers with less skill.The World Test Championship points system rewards big wins, which encourages risk. However, there is a point where risk becomes short-sighted.Chopra, Ashwin and Karthik are right when they say double standard. Collapses on seamers’ pitches are often praised as “great Test cricket”, while collapses on spin tracks are criticized as “bad pitches”.But the Perth course itself was not a bad surface. It improved over time, rewarding skill and allowing a batsman to score one of the great Ashes hundreds. It cannot be compared to the Eden Gardens pitch, which was unprepared, inconsistent and in poor condition from the first hour.
