The newly-refurbished Motera Stadium's controversial pitch earned a lot of detractors after India vs England Day/Night Test on the emphatic ground ended inside the first two days with the English batting coming up a cropper on a rank turner.
The English side couldn't even manage 200 runs over two innings in the game, leaving many foreign cricket experts, including former English skipper Michael Vaughan baffled.
And on Sunday, another former England cricketer in Monty Panesar made his resentment apparent on such Test pitches. The 38-year-old retired spinner felt that India managed to build a beautiful stadium but the wicket didn't do justice to the game.
"It was like playing club cricket on a Saturday in England. When we play club cricket, we will bowl a team out for under 100, and then it's difficult to chase because it's a turning pitch. I think being the biggest stadium in the world, Narendra Modi Stadium deserves longer Test matches because people want to see how good the wicket is, you look at the stadium, beautiful views, and what an amazing stadium India has produced. It does not deserve a two-day Test match that's under 900 balls, you might just play on a park, if you are going to play this type of cricket," Panesar told ANI.
Panesar further suggested that ICC should dock points off India if the fourth Test, to be played at the same venue, yield a similar result.
"I think if the next Test match is the same, then yes, the ICC should dock points. Everyone is delighted that cricket has now got the biggest stadium in the world now. At least the curator should have produced a good wicket, even if it's a turning wicket, everyone was complaining about Chennai, this was even worse," he said.
"If you are going to produce a turning wicket, at least the match should go for 3-3.5 days. India will probably produce a turning pitch, at least it should last for three days. The Indian people are saying England batsmen cannot play spin very well, if you take that into account, Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen have scored runs here, Cook has got a record as good as Matthew Hayden in India. Pietersen did score quickly, do England have that? No, they do not," he added.
