The recently concluded third test match between India and England which was played at Narendra Modi stadium, Ahmedabad, was quite a shocker as the game ended in just 2 days with India defeating the visitors by 10 wickets. It won’t be wrong to say that though India won the match, the batting performances of both the sides were quite disappointing.
The toss was won by England and they decided to bat, the whole team was bundled out for just 112 runs and other than Zak Crawley (53), no England batsman was able to make an impact. Axar Patel bowled brilliantly, took 6 wickets and gave just 38 runs and he was well supported by Ravichandran Ashwin who took 3 wickets in England’s first innings. In response, India started well but soon the Indian side also crumbled and the whole team got out for just 145. Rohit Sharma was the highest scorer for India with 66 runs and the skipper Virat Kohli (27) also looked in good touch before getting out.
In the second innings, England’s performance was again dismal as the whole squad managed to put 81 runs only on the score board and Axar Patel once again was the pick of the bowlers with 5 wickets while Ashwin took 4 wickets. India had to score 49 runs for winning the test match which was done easily by the Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill and India won the test match by 10 wickets.
Many former England cricketers such as Michael Vaughan, David Floyd, etc. slammed the pitch as 17 wickets fell on the second day of the match and called it not suitable for a five day match. However, the Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma has supported the pitch, saying that there is nothing wrong with the pitch and batsmen lacked the intention. While speaking in a press conference, Hitman says that the pitch did not do anything; in fact, he calls it a nice pitch to bat. He further adds that the only thing the batsman needs is to remain concentrated while batting and runs will come in. Rohit also questions as to how the pitch can be blamed when majority of the batsmen get out on straight deliveries; however, he also accepts that the Indian batting unit has also made mistakes.
The Indian skipper was also in agreement with his teammate and said that the batsmen from both the sides lacked concentration as 21 out of 30 wickets were taken on straight deliveries. He added that the batsmen needed to show belief in their defense and Indian bowlers were more effective than the England bowlers because of which the result went in favor of India.
Now team India has taken a lead in the series by 2-1 and even if the Indian players manage a draw in the fourth test match, then also the Indian squad will be able to play the finals of the ICC World Test Championship 2019-21 against New Zealand at Lord’s.
