India vs AustraliaHow have the two pitches used for the two Tests in Ahmedabad behaved

After three 3-day Tests in Nagpur, Delhi and Indore, the action now shifts to Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, where the Indian team will try to win the series and seal a spot in the World Test Championship final against Australia. Australia, led by Steve Smith in the absence of Pat Cummins, made a comeback to beat the confident Indian side by 9 wickets at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore.

However, despite the defeat, India lead the four-match BGT series 2-1. After what happened in the Indore Test, the wicket for the final Test may not be a rank-turner, as per reports. The pitch talk, however, is likely to continue as India attempts to recover from their loss in the third Test and advance to the World Test Championship final. Indiatoday.in takes a look at what happened in the two Tests played in Ahmedabad.

INDIA VS ENGLAND, 3RD Test

Ahmedabad hosted two Test matches between India and England in 2021, both of which were won by the hosts in two days. The first of them was India’s 10-wicket win over England at the brand-new Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. After dismissing England for 81 runs in their second innings, openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill successfully chased down the 49-run target.

India lost seven wickets for 31 runs after looking solid at 114 for 3 at one point in the game, but England lost all ten in an entire session with no pacer in action. Ironically, it was Axar Patel’s non-turning deliveries that had England’s rank and file panicking, as they pre-empted every away turn. In fact, it was reported that Axar created the illusion of turn with 11 straighter deliveries, propelling India to the ICC World Test Championship (ICC) final.

INDIA VS ENGLAND, 4TH TEST

The second Test also saw the pitch aiding the spinners as Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin made a mockery of an eternally confused English batting line-up as India scripted a resounding innings and a 25-run victory. India registered first innings score of 365 and took a lead of 160 on the same track where England could cumulatively manage only 340 runs across two innings. It was another two and half days finish but even England experts like their former skipper Michael Vaughan admitted that the 22-yard strip had almost nothing to do with their side’s abject surrender.

EXPERTS ON AHMEDABAD PITCH

The International Cricket Council did not sanction the Ahmedabad pitch used for the two Tests against England in 2021 and the match referee Javagal Srinath gave the surface an ‘average’ rating.

There were times when it seemed like the spinners only needed to roll their arm over to get a wicket. Joe Roo’s five wickets for eight runs in 38 deliveries suggests that the slow bowlers received too much assistance. Scoring runs was difficult, but it was made more difficult by the batsmen’s mistakes.

Asked if he thought the pitch was sub-standard, Root said”It’s a tricky one to answer. Every now and then you expect to deal with a surface that is quite challenging. It’s not for players to decide if it’s fit for purpose. That’s up to the International Cricket Council.”

Coach Chris Silverwood was similarly diplomatic when he said”Whatever the pitch did or didn’t do, India ultimately played better than us, but it probably pushed us to the extremes of what most of our players if any, have experienced.”

The last Test against Ahmedabad was even before the first ball was bowled, the Indians created the illusion of a turning track. It was a ploy to manipulate the minds of a team that was already in a funk.