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Since last week, a release hadn’t sparked as much debate.
If tourists say little about the Ahmedabad camp in which they were given a concealment of the third test, That hasn’t stopped many others from discussing his suitability for international cricket.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan said it was “horrible” and former captain Alastair Cook said the test was “hard to watch”.
Is it fair criticism or just a pointless twist?
What’s all the fuss about?
Not only was it exciting, compelling, and sometimes downright bizarre, the third test was also incredibly unusual.
Of the 2,412 tests that were played, only 22 finished in two days and half of them were before WWII, when the pitches could be quite changeable. This was the shortest full test since 1936.
Twenty-eight of the 30 wickets fell to spin, which is a high proportion even for Asia, where spinners have taken about three out of two rhythm bowlers since 2010.
Only two batsmen, Englishman Zak Crawley and Indian Rohit Sharma, managed half a century and only Rohit survived more than 100 deliveries in the entire match.
While it’s fair to say these numbers aren’t solely due to the pitch (captains Joe Root and Virat Kohli admitted both teams’ hitting was not up to scratch), pitching certainly played a role.
Former England player Phil Tufnell said the field had “taken away the skill of the players”, and former captain Andrew Strauss went further, describing it as a “lottery”.
Perhaps there is no other sport in which the strip of grass on which it is played affects the result as much as cricket.
Accusations of incorrectness can be inflammatory, and scathing opinions can often follow national lines.
Was the pitch in Ahmedabad bad? That depends on what you consider “good”.
Was the launch really that bad?
The debate surrounding the strip in Ahmedabad comes immediately after the attention drawn to the pitch For the second test in Chennai, it performed similarly, if not to the same extent. It’s also worth noting that India had over 600 runs in that match.
Traditionally, a “good” test pitch would be one that offers even competition between bat and ball, with encouragement for bowlers of all stripes at various stages of the match.
However, a “good” pitch is not exclusive when it comes to producing exciting test cricket. Part of the challenge and attraction of the game’s longest form is the variety of conditions, and succeeding away from home in strange surroundings is one of the great achievements.
There is also nothing wrong with teams, within reason, taking advantage of playing at home. India has found itself on the wrong side of conditions in England in the past and will likely do so again at some point during its trip to the UK later this year.
The problem arises when conditions are pushed to the extreme, and the batsmen or certain bowlers have such an advantage that the integrity of the competition is compromised.
Was that line crossed in Ahmedabad?
Certainly there were times when it seemed like spinners just had to turn the arm and it would follow a wicket. Without being disrespectful of Root’s twist, the England captain picking up five wickets for eight runs in 38 installments would suggest there was too much help for the slow players.
However, England were 74-2 in the early innings. India went 98-2 in the first and 49-0 in the second to seal the victory.
Scoring runs was challenging, but perhaps the hitters’ mistakes made it seem more difficult.
Are they just sour grapes from England?
It is important to note that England has not complained about the field. Not publicly, at least.
When asked if he thought the course was poor, Root said: “It’s hard to answer. Every now and then you hope to deal with a surface that is quite challenging. It is not up to the players to decide if it is fit for their purpose. That depends. of the International Cricket Council “.
Coach Chris Silverwood was equally diplomatic when he said: “Regardless of what the field did or did not do, India ultimately played better than us, but it probably took us to the extremes of what most of our players, if any, did. , has experienced “.
In some ways, the fact that India has resorted to playing the last two Tests on courses that have offered too much spin is a compliment to England.
The first test, in a field not so useful for spinners, was won handsomely by tourists, who made 578 on their first entries. Faced with the prospect of a first series loss at home in nine years, India was once again what it knows best.
“It felt like a normal pitch to me. I don’t see anything that made the pitch,” said Rohit, who reiterated Kohli’s view that the hitters on both sides were as much to blame as the pitch.
While criticism has come from the likes of Vaughan and Strauss, the field has been defended by Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar, who said “real hitters” would have found a way to score runs.
However, former India players VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh said the surface was not ideal, while World Cup winner Yuvraj Singh tweeted that he was “not sure” if it was good for test cricket.
Will something be done with the field?
The closest Silverwood came to suggesting that England would formally complain about the surface was saying that he and Root would discuss their options.
The task of evaluating a field and outfield falls to the match referee, who has six ratings to choose from. Three of them (‘below average’, ‘poor’ and ‘unfit’) result in a venue receiving ‘demerit points’, which, when accumulated, can result in the suspension of a field to host matches international for up to two years.
Since 2019 seven testing grounds They have been given a below average grade, resulting in one demerit point each. In the same time frame, one pitch, the Wanderers in Johannesburg, received three demerit points for a low grade, while no place was deemed inappropriate (five demerit points).
With a total of five demerit points required over a five-year period to trigger a one-year suspension, it appears that a terrain would have to miss a lot at pitch quite consistently to risk a suspension.
When you also consider that throwing penalties do not affect a team’s position in the World Trials Championship, unlike point deductions in the national cricket County Championship, the consequences for any nation or terrain that produces a poor surface they are minimal.
Now what?
The fourth and final round of the series, starting Thursday, will be played again in Ahmedabad.
With the series still alive and India needing to avoid defeat to secure their place in the World Test Championship final, it seems fantastic that England is expecting hospitality.
Even if there isn’t as much help for the spinners, the ball is sure to spin, meaning England must stop an alarming batting slump that has seen them return a total of 669 runs in their last five full innings.
They must also decide what is the best way to restrict Indian hitters in those fields.
Despite his 5-8 first-inning performance in Test 3, tourists need to be careful not to expect too much from Root’s bowling, so that may spell a retirement for Dom Bess, who was eliminated for the second test and bypassed during the third.
They may have been diplomats, but England has been dragged into a revolving war. They have little time to decide how to launch their response.
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