Former Australia batsman, Mark Waugh has aired his opinion regarding the pitch in the ongoing Chennai Test between India and England and is clear on which side of the debate he is on.
Mark Waugh slams Chennai Pitch
Mark Waugh termed the pitch being used or prepared as ‘unacceptable’ as 15 wickets fell on Day 2 and 217 runs were scored. Waugh’s assessment comes in as a criticism to the pitch which offered turn and bounce for the spinners from Day 1.
With Michael Vaughan and Shane Warne among those criticising the Chennai crumble via social media, the former Australia batsman Mark Waugh weighed in by tweeting:
“I’m all for a good contest between bat and ball in Test match cricket but this pitch in Chennai is unacceptable at Test match level. You can’t have the ball going through the top of the surface on day 1 from the main part of the pitch. Ie not from the footmarks.”
Graham Thorpe’s Reply
England, however, refused to be drawn. The assistant coach Graham Thorpe, sitting poker-faced next to Chris Silverwood on the balcony for most of the day, was asked for his opinion.
He replied: “It’s a very challenging surface, that’s what I’m going to say. In terms of me commenting on the pitch, I think that’s for someone above me to look at. It’s obviously taken turn early in the game and it was a very good toss to win.”
I’m all for a good contest between bat and ball in test match cricket but this pitch in Chennai is unacceptable at test match level. You can’t have the ball going through the top of the surface on day 1 from the main part of the pitch. Ie not from the footmarks.
— Mark Waugh (@juniorwaugh349) February 14, 2021
With England’s best hope of escape on a wing and a prayer, he was reflective on the challenge of batting well on a pitch so conducive to spin. “There are some balls in the pitch which you might not be able to do too much about. We talked about having a plan. How to attack, defend and rotate. It didn’t happen for us today, we didn’t get the partnerships going.
“We need something very, very special to happen tomorrow and somebody do something amazing with the bat. We knew we were going to have some tough times and the important thing is the dressing room doesn’t get too affected by today.”
Ben Foakes’s View
The top-scoring Englishman, Ben Foakes, said after his unbeaten 42: “It was an incredibly tough day. The pitch was playing a few tricks. I just tried to stick to my gameplan.”
Ravichandran Ashwin, with five wickets under his belt, seemed surprised to be asked about the pitch: “I do not know if they [England] have complaints but if they have then it is completely natural to come up against adverse conditions.
“The seven days of cricket that we have played so far, England have played really well, competed really well. Time and again there are conditions which will challenge you be it spin or seam. Clearly the challenges are way greater when you come up against seam. It’s just the way you play spin, you have to give time and then cash in, it is another form of art.”
India vs England 2nd Test
In the 3rd day of the 2nd Test match, India scored 156 runs for losing 6 wickets. Indian openers failed to make the impressive start. India skipper Virat Kohli stands as the last leg for team India to set a decent target for a team like England.
