'When ball starts to turn...': Sunil Gavaskar hammers critics for slamming Chennai pitch in 2nd Test
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Former Indian captain and a legend of cricket, Sunil Gavaskar has ripped into the critics questioning the quality of the pitch in the second Test between India and England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Former England cricketers Michael Vaughan and Matt Prior are among those who have heavily criticised the Chennai pitch for being a 'rank turner' and a 'dustbowl' as it assisted the spinners from Day 1 of the match.
Former Indian captain and a legend of cricket, Sunil Gavaskar has ripped into the critics questioning the quality of the pitch in the second Test between India and England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Former England cricketers Michael Vaughan and Matt Prior are among those who have heavily criticised the Chennai pitch for being a 'rank turner' and a 'dustbowl' as it assisted the spinners from Day 1 of the match.
While India posted 329 runs in the first innings following Rohit Sharma's sensational 161-run knock, England were outplayed by the Indian spinners with Ravichandran Ashwin picking up his 29th fifer in Test cricket. England were bundled out for 134 runs as former England cricketers came out with their critical takes on the pitch.
It didn’t do anywhere near as much for 2 sessions ... Spun but not like what it’s doing now ... India would have drawn the first Test if they had batted anything like in the 1st innings ... This isn’t a good Test match pitch ... https://t.co/HhK6dYLiHm
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 14, 2021
When have we ever been able to prepare a green pitch? Always did the complete opposite because the club CEO wanted it to go five days! 100% agree on taking notes though. Any chance of you being able to speak to and help our spinners at all??
— Matt Prior (@MattPrior13) February 14, 2021
Hitting back at the critics over the Chennai pitch, Gavaskar said that it is always about Indian pitches when it starts to turn from Day 1 while adding no one bats an eye when seaming pitches are prepared in England.
"We saw how Rohit Sharma getting 150, and yesterday he was getting close to ball and batting. This criticism (on pitch) is pretty warranted," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
"Some of them are saying that - but you have a seaming pitch in England. Australia get dismissed for 46 - the ball keeps seeming all throughout. No one talks about that. It's always about Indian pitches, and when the ball starts to turn, people pose a problem," he added.
While Rohit smashed a cracking century, Rahane scored a sublime 67 with Rishabh Pant ending up with unbeaten 58.
"It's not unplayable. It's a challenging pitch, and that's what cricket should be about. In the first Test, on the first two days, when nothing was happening, people were saying 'it's boring, nothing is happening. It's so easy to bat.' So, there has to be a bit of balance between what is said. You cannot be complaining all the time," the former India captain added.
Meanwhile, batting at the same Chennai pitch on Day 3, the Indian team has posted 156/6 on Lunch. Both Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin have been stitching a solid partnership and will look to continue the run-flow in the next session.