England Should Be Embarrassed For Playing Three Pacers On A Turning Pitch: Geoffrey Boycott

While some former England cricketers have called the Ahmedabad pitch a disgrace after the pink-ball Test against India ended within two days, Geoffrey Boycott has a different take on it. By losing the third Test as well, England not only wasted the opportunity of winning the Test series but are also out of the ICC World Test Championship. Geoffrey Boycott has emerged amongst the few, slamming England for misjudging the pitch.

England decided to go for three seamers, including Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, and James Anderson and only one specialist spinner in Jack Leach. The deck offered variable turn and India’s move of fielding three specialist spinners paid off incredibly well. It resulted in Axar Patel demolishing England’s batting line-up by snapping 11 wickets in the match and Ravichandran Ashwin coming up with vital contributions.

While Jack Leach bowled exceptionally well, there was little purchase of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, and Jofra Archer from the track. Hence, Joe Root brought himself and took his maiden five-wicket haul, helping England to bowl out India cheaply on the second day. Nevertheless, England’s first innings of 112 followed yet another grim batting performance that saw them bundled out for 81. It left India only 49 to win that they completed with ten wickets to spare.

England thought they are playing a pink-ball Test in Adelaide: Geoffrey Boycott

Geoffrey Boycott underlined that he would like to know whose idea was it to play three seamers on a turning track and they should be embarrassed for doing so. The 80-year old thinks that England had the feeling they were playing a pink-ball Test in Adelaide and not Ahmedabad.

“I would also like to know who had the bright idea of playing three fast bowlers on a turning pitch. They should be embarrassed. England got sucked into thinking they were playing a pink ball test in Adelaide not Ahmedabad,” Boycott wrote in his column for Daily Mail.

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