Former England captain Michael Vaughan
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has again trolled the wicket ahead of the fourth Test against India. The debate over the Motera pitch has gone through the roof following India's two-day finish in the pink-ball Test.
Axar Patel and R Ashwin ran riot in Ahmedabad as India secured a 10-wicket win after bundling out England for just 81 in their second innings. Ironically, on the rank turner at Motera, 21 out of 30 wickets fell to straighter deliveries from spinners.
The pink cherry skidded on faster, making it tough for the visitors to adapt. While some former cricketers including Sunil Gavaskar have defended the surface, many players like Vaughan have been vocal about the quality of the pitch.
Vaughan on Tuesday again took a dig at the surface, posting a picture of him standing in dug-up soil with a bat in his hands. "Preparations going well for the 4th Test !! #OnOn #INDvENG," he wrote in the caption.
Earlier, Vaughan had also questioned the ICC for allowing India to get away with such surfaces. "The longer powerful countries like India are allowed to get away with it the more toothless the ICC will look.
"The governing body are allowing India to produce whatever they wish and it is Test cricket that is getting hurt. India won the third Test but it was a shallow victory. In fact, there was no winner from that game at all," Vaughan wrote in the Daily Telegraph.
On the contrary, India opener Rohit Sharma said that there were no demons in the pitch and termed it as a nice wicket to bat on.
“The pitch didn’t do anything, honestly speaking. Most batters got out to straighter deliveries, and as a batting unit, we also made mistakes. The pitch had nothing as such, no such demons. It was a nice pitch to bat on. Once in you can score runs, as we saw. You just need to apply yourself and keep concentrating on a pitch like that,” said Rohit after India's victory in the third Test.
With a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final on the line, India will take on England in the fourth and final Test of the series from Thursday in Ahmedabad. The hosts need to either draw or win the final Test to seal the berth for the WTC final at Lord's.
