IND vs ENG: A pitch like Ahmedabad is very bad for Test cricket, Dilip Vengsarkar said

Gaurav Gupta, Mumbai
The debate on the pitch of Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium continues and former Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar has also joined it. Vengsarkar has criticized the wicket of the third Test match played against England and termed it ‘bad for Test cricket’.

India defeated England by 10 wickets in the third Test match on the strength of left-arm spinner Akshar Patel and veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. The match lasted only 2 days and only 842 balls were bowled.

Vengsarkar told our colleague Times of India, ‘There is no doubt that it was a cheap wicket. Such wickets are bad for Test match cricket. People spend money to watch a good quality cricket and come to watch the match.

Vengsarkar, who played 116 Test matches in his career, further said, ‘Both teams have excellent players. When you see a great batsman like Joe Root becoming a great bowler, obviously there is something wrong with the wicket. Root, the England captain and part time off-spinner, took 5 wickets for 8 runs in this match.

Vengsarkar, who was the national chief selector, also questioned the defensive technique of the English batsmen, who were able to score 112 runs in the first innings and only 81 runs in the second innings. He said, ‘England did not have the will to fight. The ball was going straight, which was not turning. His defensive technique looked poor. He did not see any skill to play such wickets.

See, Video: When Virat praised Akshar in Gujarati, he said, ‘Bapu thari boling kamal chhe’

Former Wankhede curator Sudhir Naik, who prepared wickets for the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) between 2006 and 2017, also criticized the wicket. He told that in the year 2004, when a Test match in Wankhede was over in 2 days, the ICC wrote a letter to Jagmohan Dalmiya (then BCCI President) asking us to give a reason why the test-hosting position of MCA Should not be withdrawn.