Kevin Pietersen
Former England captain Kevin Pietersen on Wednesday took a cheeky dig at Team India after England skipper Joe Root won the toss and opted to bat in the third Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
"Oops india , asha karta hoon ki yeh, toss jeeto match jeeto wala wicket na ho," tweeted the former cricketer pointing at the trend that has been noticed in the series so far. England had won the toss and opted to bat first in Chennai in the first Test and had made most of the batting conditions to outscore the home team and script a heavy victory. In the second Test, India opted to bat first and ended up as the winning team.
Root opted to bat first with the plan of getting big runs on the board like in the opener earlier this month and make most of the pitch as it wears down over the course of the third Test.
"We are gonna bat first. Hopefully, we will get a big score like the first Test. Hoping the wicket will dry out as the game goes along. It is certainly harder and seems to swing more compared to the red ball. We are very excited to be here 1-1 and are looking to do well," said Root after winning the toss.
England made four changes for the Test - James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, and Zak Crawley back in for Rory Burns, Dan Lawrence, Olly Stone, and Moeen Ali.
Virat Kohli too would have opted to bat first citing, "We would look to get into the game early on. The practice wickets have been quite spicy. Something that we have enjoyed as a team. It is such an exciting atmosphere here at the largest cricket stadium. I am a bit worried about the lights. We have played in a similar stadium in Dubai."
India made two changes for the Test - Jasprit Bumrah in for Mohammed Siraj and Washington Sundar for Kuldeep Yadav.
This is the second Pink Ball Test played in India. The first of its kind was played in November 2019 in Kolkata where India had wrapped up the Test in under five sessions as Bangladesh succumbed to India's pace domination.
