Harbhajan Singh lays blame on Pune pitch after Australia team he labelled the worst ever thrashed India by 333-runs
Pre-series prediction that came back to bite
India spinner Harbhajan Singh has hit out at the pitch that saw India crash to a 333-run defeat in the opening Border-Gavaskar Test in Pune.
Harbhajan had labelled Steve Smith's side "the weakest Australian side to tour India" in the lead-up to the opening Test match.
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He took to twitter after Virat Kohli's side were bowled out for 105 and 107 inside three days to criticise the quality of the pitch in Pune where Steve Smith scored his 18th Test century.
Take a bow @stevesmith49 that's an outstanding inn on that pitch actually no pitch..where it looks difficult to play every ball..IndvsAus
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) February 25, 2017
Credit to @CricketAus 4 playing unbelievable well on tht wicket.let's hope we play on good tracks frm here onwards nd get th right results
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) February 25, 2017
Harbhajan's comments will be viewed with interest by some, after the Australia team made a mockery of the former Test spinner's pre-series prediction of an Indian whitewash.
"I have played against some of the best Australian sides. In my opinion, looking at the composition, this is the weakest Australian side to tour India," Harbhajan told PTI in the lead-up to the Pune Test.
"I don't think this team has the wherewithal to cope with a quality Indian side in the Indian conditions.
"It can again be 4-0 like 2013 season."
Instead it is India that have some soul searching to do before the second Test in Bengaluru in a week on March 4, particularly for the No.1 ranked team's much-vaunted batting line-up.
India captain Virat Kohli downplayed the impact of the wicket after the Test.
"I don't think it was any different from the turners that we played on in the past. We just didn't play good cricket," Kohli told reporters after play.
"They exploited it better than us. They put us under pressure throughout and deserved to win this game ... there are no excuses.
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"Us batsman put us in that position. The batting was not up to standard and certainly how we shouldn't bat from here on.
"I would say it was sustained pressure from the Australian bowlers (and) the batsmen need to pull their socks up."
Australia's captain said he believed the wicket "evened up the contest" and played into the tourists' hands.
"It was certainly a wicket that would more likely suit the India players," Smith said after play.
"I think it evened up the contest a lot more. We saw the way our spinners bowled on that, they were able to generate good spin and good natural variations.
"It was up to them to prepare a wicket and they prepared a wicket that played into our hands.
"It will be interesting to see how they prepare in Bangalore."
Harbhajan had also taken aim at Smith and fast bowler Mitchell Starc, questioning their credentials to prosper in India.
"Most of Smith's centuries are against spinners on Australian pitches," Harbhajan said.
"The length varies, there's less turn and the bounce makes it easier for strokeplayers. In India, Ashwin and Jadeja on these tracks will pose far bigger challenge for Smith.
"The series is starting at a time when India summer commences … Starc would find it difficult to bowl more than three or four overs at full tilt in this heat and humidity. Also how many overs will Starc bowl in an innings? 20 overs. So how much his body will hold during the third or fourth spell will be key."
Such was the dominance of Australia's bowlers against the India batsmen, Starc and Josh Hazlewood were only required to bowl 20 overs between them across the entire Test.
Test Squads
India (for first two Tests): Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandaran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Hardik Pandya.
Australia: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Stephen O'Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade
Australia's schedule in India
Feb 17-19, Tour match v India A, Mumbai
Feb 23-27, First Test: Australia won by 333 runs, Pune
Mar 4-8, Second Test, Bengaluru
Mar 16-20, Third Test, Ranchi
Mar 25-29, Fourth Test, Dharamsala