‘Are you a sniff the pitch person?’: Dale Steyn takes a brutal dig at Australia after Nagpur Test

Former South African cricketer Dale Steyn took to social media to savagely mock Australia after their dismal defeat to India in the opening Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which concluded on February 11 in Nagpur. His tongue-in-cheek comments were met with a flurry of responses from cricket fans around the world.

India trounced Australia by an innings and 132 runs, propelling them to a 1-0 lead in the four-match series. Despite their reputation as the world’s top-ranked side, India delivered a stunning victory. Australian spinner Todd Murphy was in fine form, but the batting unit failed to rise to the occasion.

“So quick question to you cricket people. How does one like to read a pitch? Are you a get down on your knees and almost sniff the pitch person or a general stand and observe from the pitch side? Lastly. Did it really help you?” the 39-year-old wrote in his tweet, taking a dig at the Australian side.

So quick question to you cricket people.

How does one like to read a pitch?

Are you a get down on your knees and almost sniff the pitch person or a general stand and observe from the pitch side?

Lastly. Did it really help you?
— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) February 11, 2023

Prior to the game, much of the discussion centered around the pitch, and photos of Australian players attempting to assess the condition of the surface by getting down on their knees had gone viral. The most striking of these images was of Steve Smith, who knelt down to inspect the pitch, almost as if he were trying to take a whiff of the Nagpur surface.

The former right-arm pace bowler’s tweet was a direct indication to the Australians that all their complaining and pouting about the pitch was in vain. Ultimately, they were unable to play quality cricket, while India, conversely, placed greater emphasis on it.

Steyn took to Twitter to share that during his playing days, he never liked to read the pitch before a game, as he felt it would distract him from his bowling. He divulged that he only studied the pitch when he was feeling confident and prepared to take the field.

“So believe it or not but in my playing days I didn’t ever like to look at the pitches we played on, most often the first time I saw it was when it was my turn to bowl or bat in that particular game. Working out my length to hit the top of off was done playing,” Steyn tweeted.

So believe it or not but in my playing days I didn’t ever like to look at the pitches we played on, most often the first time I saw it was when it was my turn to bowl or bat in that particular game. Working out my length to hit the top of off was done playing. #wastedbooksecrets

— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) February 11, 2023

Following their victory over Australia, crafted by the spin-bowling duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, India, now ranked second, have earned 61.67 percentage points compared to the 70.83 of the top-ranked Australians. This result has propelled India to the brink of the number one spot, and they will be looking to capitalize on this momentum to take the top spot in the rankings.

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