India vs England 2021: Nasser Hussain Admits England Can't Use The Pitch As An Excuse For Losing 3rd Test

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has opined that the visitors cannot use the Motera pitch as an excuse for their poor performance in the pink-ball Test. The new stadium witnessed one of the strangest matches as the day-night Test was finished within two days. A lot of cricket experts around the world weren’t happy with the pitch and claimed it was an unfair bout between bat and ball.

England won a good toss and chose to bat in the first innings of the third Test. Apart from Zak Crawley’s fifty in the first innings, England looked helpless and bundled out for 112. India was well placed at 98 for 2 wickets to get a big score but lost 8 wickets so quickly and ended up getting 145. England lost two wickets for no runs in the first over of their second innings and registered their lowest score against India of 81. India chased the target of 49 in less than 8 overs to win the third Test by 10 wickets and revived the hopes of the world Test championship finals.

India’s Two Spinners Exploited The Conditions Beautifully – Nasser Hussain

Nasser Hussain revealed that the pitch did not play fair and square between bat and ball, but criticized England for their poor performance. He explained the two spinners took advantage of the spin conditions and exploited it well with their clever variations and consistent line and lengths. Axar Patel’s 11 wicket haul in the match was a massive difference between the two teams and he looked the most threatening.

“I don’t believe the Ahmedabad pitch provided a fair contest between bat and ball – but neither do I believe England can use that as an excuse for losing the third Test. India’s two spinners – Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin – exploited the conditions beautifully.

Patel with his pace and accuracy, Ashwin with his clever variation. But for batsmen on both sides – and don’t forget India were bowled out for 145 – it was an exhausting business. It was fun to watch, but probably less fun to play. And let’s face it, if Joe Root is taking five for eight, you can hardly say the pitch is a belter,” wrote Nasser Hussain.

Nasser Hussain Reveals The Bottom Line

Nasser Hussain revealed that England should have done better with the bat in the first innings and added that it had cost the game. Hussain also expects England to prepare well for the Indian pitches and opined that England needs to address their shortcoming against spin in the future to be effective all across the world.

“Having said all that, England should expect little else when they come to India. And they ought to have done better after winning the toss. Above all, this game told us a lot about where England are as a Test side in these conditions.

There’ll be a lot of discussion about the pitch, and the hasty decision-making of the third umpire, and so on. But that’s for others to discuss. The bottom line for England is that they won a good toss, and collapsed from 74 for two to 112 in their first innings. In the end, that’s what cost them the Test,” added Nasser Hussain.

Nasser Hussain played 96 tests and 88 ODIs for England and is one of the best captains from the country.