'Are you sniff the pitch person?' - Dale Steyn's critical dig at Australia after their defeat in Nagpur Test

Former South Africa cricketer Dale Steyn massively trolled Australia after their disastrous defeat to India in the opening Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which concluded on February 11, in Nagpur.

India defeated Australia by an innings and 132 runs, which enabled them to go 1-0 up in the four-match series. They looked a shallow self compared to their reputation of being the No.1 side in the world, which led to India clinching a magnificent win. Though Australian spinner Todd Murphy looked in great form, the batting unit could not put up a worthy performance.

"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

A lot of talk before the game focused around the pitch and photos of Australian players trying to gauge the nature of the surface by getting down on their knees had gone viral. The most striking of them was of Steve Smith getting down on his knees and inspecting the pitch, which almost looked as if he was going to the extent of "sniffing" the pitch at Nagpur.

The former right-arm pace bowler's tweet was a direct indication towards the Australians that all their whining and sulking about the pitch did them no good. Ultimately, they failed to play quality cricket, which India, on the other hand, put more focus on.

I didn't ever like to look at the pitches we played on: Steyn

Steyn went on to post another tweet which stated that during his playing days, he never liked reading the pitch before any game because that way he felt he would lose his focus from bowling. He revealed that he liked to study the pitch only when he was confident going into any match and ready to bowl.

"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 the win over Australia, crafted by the spin-bowling pair of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, No. 2 ranked India are now on 61.67 percentage points as compared to 70.83 of No.1 ranked Australia.

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