Senior Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin hit back at the pitch critics after India defeated England 3-1 in the recently-concluded Test series at home. India won the fourth and final Test by an innings and 25 runs to clinch the series and enter the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) where they will take on New Zealand.
Ravichandran Ashwin: Series Win Testament To The Fact That Indian Team At Present Is Very Good
The quality of Indian pitches remained a topic of debate throughout the Test series with several former cricketers and experts taking a dig at the quality of the tracks offered. The pitch debate intensified after the third Test in Ahmedabad finished inside just two days with India recording a dominant 10-wicket win.
The likes of Michael Vaughan, Steve Waugh, and Andrew Strauss among others were critical of the spin-friendly wicket in Ahmedabad. But none of it seemed to have bothered Team India, who won three matches on the trot after losing the series-opener to clinch the series 3-1 and make it to the WTC final.
“This series win is a testament to the fact that this is a very good Indian cricket team, that is all I would like to say. The criticism around the pitch, all that, the other day, Sunny sir was saying something that makes complete sense,” Ashwin said in a virtual press conference.
The spinner all-rounder further stated that paying attention to the pitch critics is like encouraging them to make a mockery of cricket. Ravichandran Ashwin was the leading wicket-taker with 32 scalps in 4 Tests averaging 14.72 in the recently concluded 4 Test series against England.
Ravichandran Ashwin lifted his batting and scored his fifth Test hundred in the 2nd Test at Chennai on a pitch that was the subject of intense criticism. For his all-around effort (32 wickets and 189 runs), he walked away with the Man of the Series award.
Ravichandran Ashwin: People Giving Attention To People Making A Mockery Of Cricket And Want To See How Global Media Reacts If Grass Is Present On The Pitch
Taking a dig at the critics, Ravichandran Ashwin said he would like to see how global media would react if Indian commentators start posting on Instagram when India is offered green tracks while playing overseas.
“Only because you are giving attention to people who are making a mockery of cricket, I think we are encouraging them to do more and more stuff,” said Ashwin.
“I would like to see one day when there is a lot of grass on the pitch somewhere else in the world, our Indian commentators talking about it and then putting an Instagram post, I would like to see that and how the global media reacts to that, then we will know, who is at fault,” he added.
India will face England in the upcoming five-match T20I series starting from March 12 after registering a comfortable victory in Tests. India has recalled Test series heroes Axar Patel and Rishabh Pant while including exciting prospects Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan.
Axar Patel, playing in just his second Test, scalped 11 wickets in the 3rd day-night Test at Ahmedabad to spin a web over the Englishmen. He returned with figures of 6/38 and 5/32 as England was bundled out for 112 and 81 only in the 3rd Test. Axar Patel took 27 scalps in his memorable debut Test series playing only 3 Tests against England.
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