Ben Foakes (right) is clean bowled by Axar Patel On day 3 of India vs England 1st Test.© AFP
The pitch of Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, where the India vs England first Test is being played, has been a major talking point from Day 1 of the game. Many experts have showed dissatisfaction for the fact that the surface assisted spinners from the opening day itself. During commentary on the first day, former England skipper Kevin Pietersen criticized the nature of the pitch and said that it should not be providing the amount of turn to spinners what it offered. Sunil Gavaskar, who was also there in the commentary box with him, differed in opinion and rather pointed out at the flaw in the ‘technique’ of the England batters.
“Look at the way Jadeja’s first two deliveries turned. That’s Day 1 of a Test match. The ball shouldn’t be turning that much,” said Pietersen in commentary during the last session of Day 2 as quoted by Hindustan Times.
To this, Gavaskar replied, “It’s not as if the ball was spinning and bouncing, look at the dismissals. (Zak) Crawly caught at mid-on, Root out sweeping. All the other batters… the technique was not good. It wasn’t turning and bouncing that much. When you play Test cricket and are coming to India, you have to expect the ball to turn from Day 1. You can’t expect the ball to go straight through.”
England were bundled out for a score of 246 runs on the opening day with the Indian spinners sharing a total of 8 wickets among themselves. India, meanwhile, posted 119 for 1 at the end of play on the day.
On the following day, India went on to extend their score to 421 for 7 before the umpires called for Stumps. The Rohit Sharma-led side was eventually bundled out for a score of 436 on the next day, taking a lead of 190 runs.
However, England made good comeback after that and posted 316 for 6 at the end of play on Day 3 with Ollie Pope remaining not out at the score of 148.
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