Shane Warne Slams Vaughan For Criticising Chennai Pitch

Legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne has lambasted former England skipper Michael Vaughan for his criticism of the Chennai pitch for the second Test between India and England.

Unlike the pitch used for the first Test which remained flat on the first two days, this strip has offered sharp turn and bounce from the first day itself after India opted to bat first in the second ongoing Chennai Test.

Shane Warne: England Should Have Bowled India Out For 220

India’s batsmen, led by opener Rohit Sharma’s 161, showed deft footwork and brilliant resolve to pile up 329 runs into the first innings. In response to the Indian team’s strong resolve, while batting, the visitors failed miserably and were all-out for just 134, with Ravichandran Ashwin (5-43) and Axar Patel (2-40) being the main wreckers.

Michael Vaughan called the pitch a “shocker,” while adding on the same breadth that it does not make for five-day cricket while looking at how the England batsmen struggled against the Indian spinners, In reply, legendary spinner Shane Warne pointed to Rohit Sharma’s knock and said England should have bowled better instead. 

“The toss wasmore important to win in the 1st test than this one, as it did nothing the 1st 2 days. Then exploded. This one has been a turner from ball one. Eng should’ve bowled India out for 220. No different between spinning or seaming & Rohit showed how to play on this surface,” said Shane Warne.

The war of words didn’t stop there. Michael Vaughan replied to Shane Warne’s comments by saying that had the hosts batted equally well in the last match, India would have salvaged a draw.

Shane Warne: India Have Batted And Bowled Better Than England In 2nd Test

In 1st Test, England batting first posted 578 with skipper Joe Root scoring 218. India managed 337 and 192. Despite England managing only 178 in 2nd innings, the side won by 227 runs as a 420 run target proved to be a daunting task for India.

The former England captain Michael Vaughan tweeted:

It didn’t do anywhere near as much for 2 sessions … Spun but not like what it’s doing now … India would have drawn the first Test if they had batted anything like in the 1st innings … This isn’t a good Test match pitch … https://t.co/HhK6dYLiHm

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 14, 2021

However, Shane Warne had a reply ready for the comment as well. The former leg-spinner retorted that conditions are the same for both sides and Virat Kohli’s team have simply outplayed England with both bat and ball in this Test.

“The last few days of the 1st test, the wicket started exploding & no one said a word about the pitch when India had no chance. At least this test it’s been the same for both teams from ball one. Eng bowled poorly & Rohit, Pant and Jinx showed how to bat.”

“There’s no diff between the ball seaming/spinning to much. We always want a fair contest between bat/ball. India have batted & bowled better than Eng in this match – simple. Conditions have been the same for both sides from ball one. But this is excessive & in favor of the ball,” said Shane Warne.

With the lead escalating to near 250, the Indians are well ahead of England in this game. But it will still be fascinating to see if the hosts can put up a similarly excellent performance in the third innings to prove critics of the pitch wrong again.