India vs England 2020-21: 4th Test pitch to be batsmen's paradise?

By Team Newsable | First Published Feb 27, 2021, 5:46 PM IST

India has piled immense pressure on England in the ongoing four-Test series for the Anthony de Mello Trophy. As India won the third day-night Test in two days, the Ahmedabad pitch is under the scanner. However, things could change for the fourth Test.

Team India has regained control over England in the current four-Test series for the Anthony de Mello Trophy. After losing the first Test in Chennai, India bounced back at the same venue before wrapping up the third day-night Test in Ahmedabad within just a couple of days.

Naturally, some fans and experts were not happy with the state of the Ahmedabad pitch. Furthermore, multiple reports stated that it could draw a red eye from the International Cricket Council and be rated as 'poor'.

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While the Board of Control for Cricket in India and stadium officials are quite aware of the situation, they could contemplate turning things around. Meanwhile, if recent reports are to be trusted, the track could witness a u-turn and become a batsman's paradise for the upcoming Test.

"Expect a good hard surface, which will be firm and even bounce. It will be a batting beauty and since its a classic red-ball match, one can expect a very high scoring contest here from March 4-8. If there are two matches played simultaneously, you can't hold one result in isolation. Let the final Test be over and then, only based on match referee Javagal Srinath's report can ICC decide its course of action. Also, as of now, the England team hasn't lodged an official complaint," a senior BCCI official was quoted as saying by PTI.

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It is being reckoned that the possibility of a sanction by ICC would reduce if the pitch acts differently in both games. Notably, all India needs is a draw in the final Test to qualify for the ICC World Test Championship final. Thus the host would not really be concerned to win the next.

"The pink-ball Test went well because it was more about the ball and the way it skidded rather than the pitch, which many English former greats are panning. It was straight deliveries that they couldn't counter. But, having said, that these kinds of tracks tend to backfire and BCCI is well aware of that," the official added.

Meanwhile, English coach Chris Silverwood has asserted that his side could well be considering lodging an official complaint regarding the Ahmedabad pitch with the ICC. "We will be talking about certain things behind the scenes. At the same time, we are disappointed that we are sat here when there should be three days of cricket left. I am sure a few spectators are as well. We've spoken to Javagal Srinath, but not about the pitch. Joe and I have to have a sit-down, have a conversation and see where we go with it," he said, reports ESPNCricinfo.

"We do have to get better on these pitches and we do have to accept there's places where we could have improved. Look at the first innings. We had an opportunity there to score more runs and next time, we'll pounce on that. And whatever the pitch did or didn't do, India ultimately played better than us on that surface. But, it probably pushed us to the extremes of what most of our players, if any, have experienced," he added.

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