Published 19:12 IST, February 26th 2021
Jaffer backs ex-England players silencing noise over pitches after India's win in 3rd Test
Former India player Wasim Jaffer backed the veterans and asserted that England failed to score big in the first innings due to 'poor technique/approach'.
Amidst the criticism against Indian pitches, several former English players have come out to mute the noise over the surfaces. After India wrapped up the third Test under two days, former England captain Nasser Hussain remarked that the touring party had lost the match in the first innings itself when they failed to put up a big score despite winning the toss. Another ex-England skipper Mike Atherton echoed similar views as he tweeted that the pitch was challenging but not 'unplayable'.
Sharing a compilation of tweets by former England players, former India player Wasim Jaffer backed the veterans and asserted that England failed to score big in the first innings due to 'poor technique/approach'.
Motera after Chepauk
After criticising the turning pitch at the Chepauk, several veterans of the game jumped to slam the pict at the Motera stadium for England's dismal performance against India in the third Test of the series. Despite winning the toss, England failed to notch up a big score and were bundled out for merely 112 in the first innings. The visitors also erred in picking their playing eleven as skipper Joe Root selected three seamers and only one spinner on a track which provided more assistance to the turners.
England out of WTC race
As Team India steamrolled over England in the third Test of the series, Kohli's men also crushed Root & Co's hopes of qualifying for the World Test Championship finale at the Lord's with the 10 wicket win on Thursday. India's spin masters Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel wreaked havoc in Ahmedabad as they dismissed England for merely 81 runs in the second innings eyeing to finish the proceedings within 2 days of the Test. Chasing a paltry total of 49, the Indian batsmen never looked uncomfortable as they made easy work of this small run chase as openers Rohit Sharma, and, Shubman Gill counter-attacked the English spinners with their aggressive batting display as the hosts comfortably got past the finish line by 10 wickets.
Now India needs to either win or draw the final Test of the series against England to book the finale berth at Lord's against New Zealand. If India loses the fourth match, Australia will qualify for the final of the World Test Championship in June later this year. Meanwhile, Team India have also registered their second Day-Night Test victory after their heroics in Ahmedabad. Prior to this contest, they had won their first pink-ball Test against Bangladesh at the iconic Eden Gardens, Kolkata in November 2019 and suffered an eight-wicket defeat at the hands of Australia at the Adelaide Oval in December 2020 where the Indian team also ended up registering their lowest-ever Test score of 36.
Updated 19:12 IST, February 26th 2021