Ground staff claims India 'hijacked' Pune pitch

A local 'insider' has told Indian media of the lengths the home side went to in order to 'doctor' the pitch for the first Test in Pune.

India are famous for preparing 'minefield' pitches to suit their world-class spinners, but this time it backfired spectacularly.

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Led by left-arm off-spinner Steve O'Keefe's record haul of 12 wickets, the Aussies recorded their first win in India since 2004.

A staff member of the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium (MCA) has claimed the ground staff were ordered to prepare a "rank turner" by team management.

"When the MCA refused...the senior member of the team management took the issue to the state association curator Pandurang Salgaoncar," the MCA member told the Indian Express.

"When he too resisted, the matter was placed before the BCCI curators (Parsana and Daljit), but even they were a tad reluctant. Then, the BCCI management (not the Committee of Administrators, the cricket board employees) came into the picture.

"The ground staff had been ordered to remove the grass completely. Things were hijacked from the local curators."

The Pune pitch was immediately criticised when it was unveiled before play on day one.

Shane Warne compared it to a "day eight" track and said it looked like the surface of Mars.

After the match English great David Lloyd said it wasn't fit for Test cricket.

Skipper Steve Smith says the curator in Pune "played into our hands" by producing a spin-friendly pitch.

"It was up to them to prepare a wicket and they prepared a wicket that actually played into our hands. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with in Bangalore," Smith said after Australia took a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series.

"It was certainly a wicket that was probably more likely to suit the Indian players. I think it evened up the contest a lot more.

"We saw the way our spinners bowled on that, they were able to generate some good spin and natural variation."

Warne shared similar sentiments on broadcaster Star Sports.

"We know India prepare those pitches that turn," he said.

"But if they take it too much, suddenly it becomes even for both sides. It's a bit of a lottery ... they might have just pushed this a bit too far."

Virat Kohli's side had played on more docile pitches for much of their 20-Test undefeated streak at home, especially during the five-Test series against England that finished last December.

But Kohli refused to blame the surface.

"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," India's skipper said.

"They exploited it better than us. They put us under pressure throughout and deserved to win this game ... there are no excuses."

with AAP