Indian opener Rohit Sharma has defended the Motera pitch after the Pink-Ball Test finished in less than two day’s time. It was one of the shortest Test matches ever played. They have chased down 49 needed for victory in just 7.4 overs and have taken a 2-1 lead in the series with one Test match still to play. In the process, they have bettered their chance of playing the WTC final against New Zealand at Lord’s in June later this year.
The game finished in well less than two days and just 842 balls were bowled in the match overall. It ranks among the lowest balls bowled in a Test match in the post-war era. This is just the second time that India have managed to wrap up a Test in just two days. They registered an innings and 262 run victory vs Afghanistan in Bengaluru in 2018 also inside two days.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma in the press conference said that the pitch did not have any daemons and it was th lack of skillset from both the teams which led to their undoing. 21 of the 30 wickets fell to straight deliveries with the batsmen failing to gage the line of the ball.
The Hitman added 66 and unbeaten 25 in the two innings to help India secure a 10-wicket win over England and go 2-1 up in the series. Speaking to media after the match, Rohit addressed the talks around the Motera pitch’s ‘demonic’ nature, suggesting it had no role to play in the match being wrapped-up so early.
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No Deamons In Motera Pitch: Rohit Sharma
“To be honest, on a pitch like that.. the pitch didn’t do anything. If I can recollect, most of the batsmen got out to straighter deliveries. Not just them, we, as a batting unit, made a lot of mistakes. We didn’t bat well in the first innings. The pitch had nothing as such, no such demons as we call. It was a nice pitch to bat on, once you’re in, you can score runs as well,” Rohit said during a virtual press conference.
He further said that the players needed to concentrate on that pitch to score runs which the batters from both teams failed to do.
“But again, you just need to apply and keep concentrating on a pitch like that. To score runs, you need more concentration on a pitch like that,” he added.
With this win, India have bettered its chances of playing the WTC final against New Zealand in June later this year. Meanwhile, If India lose the final Test then Australia, who are in third place with 69.2 percentage points, will sneak in to make the final.
Also Read: Pink-Ball Test Day 2 Report
