File photo of James Tredwell.
With the controversy over the Motera Stadium pitch not dying down after the third India vs England Test match ended in two days, former England spinner James Tredwell, in an exclusive chat, with Indiatvnews.com said he felt the pitch was maybe too much in favour of spinners.
The 38-year-old right-arm off-spinner said it's ok that pitches are tailored as per their requirements by the home team but felt the Ahmedabad Test was tilted in favour of spinners and there is a responsibility of ensuring the match stretches to the fifth day.
"I don't have a problem with home teams tailoring conditions to suit them," said Tredwell, who spoke to Indiatvnews.com from Raipur. "I think the England team would have been mindful of that coming to India and turning pitches as that's how conditions always are in India."
"My only question is the last match pitch was this little bit too much in spinner's favour and could we ensure that a Test matches go into the later stages of the allotted time. Because there is a responsibility on Test cricket to have a five-day challenge. There are occasions when matches ended quickly but were this pitch a bit too much one-sides, maybe."
The former cricketer, who featured in 47 international games for England and will be playing in the Road Safety World Series for England Legends, felt that England spinners have performed well in the series so far and were just outplayed by Indian spinners, who are more comfortable in the home conditions.
"It's always difficult for a foreign spinner to come to India. Indian batsmen are very good players of spin bowling. They are grown up on such surfaces and know how to bat in similar conditions. Having said that, they performed really well to keep India to some low scores throughout the series. Some of that is due to the pitches and Indian spinners have just outshone them throughout the game," he said.
"Jack Leach has bowled brilliantly throughout the series while Moeen Ali has started to find his feet and obviously Joe Root has played his part. It's a tough challenge but they have done well and I am expecting them in the fourth Test to take another step forward and win the game for the team."
Talking of his decision to play in the Road Safety World Series for England Legends, Tredwell said it wasn't a difficult decision to make as he was excited to play with big names Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag among others.
"It was an exciting opportunity to come and play here. I never thought I will get another opportunity to play at this level with names like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and others. I am really eager to play the series," he said.
