Former England spinner Graeme Swann said that England cannot hide behind pitch accusations and complain about it as it was the same for both teams. India beat England by 10 wickets in the Pink-Ball test at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The Motera pitch was the focus after India wrapped the game up inside two days. The game finished in less than two days and just 842 balls were bowled in the match overall.
However, Graeme Swann said that it’s futile if English players are blaming the pitch for their batting collapse in the two innings. Swann asserted that the conditions were the same for both the teams and England only have themselves to blame for the loss.
Pitch Was Same For Both Teams: Graeme Swann
“Well, I hope it’s a very honest conversation (in the England dressing room after the loss) and what they have to get away from, if they are, is to talk about the pitch. I know there is a lot of talk back in England, a lot of people saying ‘oh the pitch this, the pitch that’. The pitch is the same for both teams.”
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He further said that England cannot hide behind accusations that the pitch was a rank turner and ignore the fact that they did not play good cricket to win the game.
“England played well for half of this game, with the ball, but India just bowled better in the second innings. They are going to get a very similar wicket to play on next week. There are no two ways about it, England have to be better. They cannot afford to make the same mistakes. They cannot afford to hide behind accusations that the pitch is turning too much. It’s nonsense,” Swann said in the post-match show Cricket Live on Star Sports.
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.
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