MELBOURNE: MCG curator Matt Page on Monday fended off allegations of having provided inferior practice pitches to India ahead of the Boxing Day Test, saying that it was "standard procedure" to provide fresh pitches only three days in advance of a Test.
The Indian team took a break on Monday after two consecutive days of intensified nets session, although captain Rohit Sharma had an injury scare on the second of those days. Rohit was hit on the left knee after missing a throwdown. After the incident, pacer Akash Deep, who was also hit on the hand while batting, expressed some dissatisfaction with the pitches in the nets, saying, "The ball was keeping a bit low at times. They look like white-ball pitches."
