Who defines what a good surface is? Ravichandran Ashwin hits pitch critics for a six

Tags: England tour of India 2021, India, England, Ravichandran Ashwin

Published on: Mar 01, 2021

With the debate around the pitch refusing to end, Indian off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, on Saturday, hit out at critics, stating that the pitch talk was getting out of hand. The Ahmedabad pitch used for the pink-ball Test has been in focus after the match ended well inside two days. However, according to the Indian off-spinner, the debate should focus around the performance of players and not the pitch, which, according to him, is being stretched beyond limit.

Speaking at a virtual press conference, Ashwin, who became the second fastest bowler to claim 400 Test wickets during the Ahmedabad match, stated, “I somehow find it funny that when they speak about the surface, it immediately gets quoted all over in our press and this is the issue here. There have been instances, we have been to New Zealand, where both the Tests got over in a total of five days. There is a video doing the rounds where Virat Kohli is talking in South Africa and he says I am not here to talk about the pitch. That is how we have been taught to play cricket, that's why I say let them sell thoughts, buying is our choice.”

The Ahmedabad Test was the shortest completed Test since 1935, with only 140.2 overs being bowled. England managed only 112 and 81 in their two innings while India were rolled over for 145 in their first innings before chasing 49 in the second.

Ashwin added about the unending pitch debate, "The bowler wins the game, the batsmen need to bat well to score runs. Who defines what a good surface is? The seam on the first day, then bat well in the next couple of days and spin on the last two days, come on, who makes these rules? We need to get over it and if you are asking whether the pitch in the third Test was a good surface, I do not see any players of England coming out and complaining. You should be hoping for a good cricket match, not the surface."

"I went through my timeline, I saw many retweets and quote tweets, I don't understand if they didn't get it what they were retweeting it about. It is very simple, I have always wanted to talk about it at one stage. With respect to thoughts being put across and planted, I find it extremely hilarious. You have a thought process and you want everybody to follow, with thoughts, what happens is you condition people to believe in a certain manner.

"You watch a match, India wins the game, at most everyone is saying I am happy India won the game. You don't want people going back home and saying India is not winning the game, the pitch is winning the game. I do not want people to do that. I think it's important that people sell things, but we must know what we should buy," Ashwin went on to add.

The third Test saw Ashwin becoming the second fastest bowler to claim 400 Test wickets and only the third Indian after Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. The final Test will be played in Ahmedabad from March 4. A draw or win will see India progress to the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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