'An amazing team on flat pitches' - England pacer questions the Ranchi pitch preparation

The pitch in Ranchi for the fourth Test between India and England has been a talking point since the first day since it has played differently from time to time.
 By Darpan Jain Updated: Feb 24, 2024, 20:01 IST
Brendon McCullum is a good player.?width=963&height=541&resizemode=4
This pitch will keep deteriorating as the game moves forward, and batting will become tougher in the coming days.

The pitch in Ranchi for the fourth Test between India and England has been a talking point since the first day since it has played differently from time to time. It has been two-paced, with some balls remaining low and some bouncing excessively, majorly due to the presence of numerous cracks.

England did a terrific job of posting a massive first-innings total of 353 on the back of a marvellous ton by Joe Root. Later, England’s bowlers exploited the deck brilliantly, especially Shoaib Bashir, who snared four wickets, removing key batters to put India in jeopardy.

Bashir bowled tight lines and didn’t allow the Indian batters to rotate strike consistently. The balls keeping low discouraged Indian batters from defending everything, and it also led to their dismissals, especially in the second and third sessions.

Also Read: WATCH: Kuldeep Yadav surprises everyone with a reverse sweep off Tom Hartley

As a result, India lost seven wickets in their first innings by the close of the day’s play and still trailed by 134 runs, with Dhruv Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav still in the middle. This pitch will keep deteriorating as the game moves forward, and batting will become tougher in the coming days.

Stuart Broad questions the Ranchi pitch preparation

Numerous experts have talked about the Ranchi pitch since yesterday, with every one of them giving their own views. Stuart Broad also tweeted regarding the pitch in Ranchi, questioning the reason behind churning out such a track for the English team.

Broad wrote that India have a skilled spin attack and can take wickets on a flat deck. But preparing a track like in Ranchi brings the opposition’s spinners more into play, according to Broad.

“I mainly tweet about England- but looking at India. They’re an amazing team on flat Test pitches in India where their spinners skill comes into it & they out bowl other teams. Playing on pitches that roll along the floor brings in the opposition so much more. I can’t understand why they’ve prepared a pitch like this?”

India are in a precarious situation now, and Broad has made a valid point. On such decks, inexperienced spinners like Shoaib Bashir have become dangerous, providing a real chance for England to level the series.

For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram and YouTube.

From around the web