It Doesn't Matter What Type Of Pitches We Play On: Jofra Archer

Amid the raging doubts about the Ahmedabad pitch used for the third Test between India and England, Jofra Archer brushed it aside and refused to blame it for their loss. Jofra Archer and Ishant Sharma were the only pacemen to take wickets in the pink-ball Test as the rest 28 scalps fell to spin-bowling. Archer underlined that one should expect the ball to spin in India even as the batting was challenging.

Ahmedabad’s pitch quality has been one of the hottest topics of debate in recent times as it proved to be the shortest Test match since 1935. Thirty wickets fell within two days as India won by ten wickets after England scored only 193 runs in their two innings, including 81 in the second. India fared marginally better in the first innings, taking a slender lead of 33 after bowling out the visitors for 112 on the opening day.

Jofra Archer claimed that it hardly matters what pitches they play on and there’s not much to complain about in life. The 25-year old remember the day-night fixture against Glamorgan being over in three days and his first match for Sussex as they beat Leicestershire in two days. Hence, Archer stated that games do finish in two days. Furthermore, he accepted that in India, one should expect the ball to turn.

“To me, it doesn’t matter what pitches we play on. There’s not much to complain about in life — apart from bad Wi-Fi, of course. The day-nighter I played against Glamorgan three years ago was over in five sessions and on the day I signed my first Sussex contract we beat Leicestershire inside two days, so matches finish quickly in England, too. Let’s be honest, we are in India and we have to expect the ball to spin. That’s fine. Although it doesn’t mean that batting is easy,” Archer said as quoted by Daily Mail.

Joe Root encouraged us all to be fearless in our approach: Jofra Archer

Jofra Archer revealed that captain Joe Root encouraged them to be fearless in their approach as spinners were hard to get away in the first innings in Ahmedabad. The Barbadian disclosed that since a draw was not good enough to carry them into the ICC World Test Championship final, they had nothing to lose and went hard alongside being positive.

“In the first innings in Ahmedabad, it felt hard to get the ball away against their spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel. And so, ahead of the second innings, Joe Root encouraged us all to be fearless in our approach. He wanted us to realise we had nothing to lose and not to go into our shells, and he urged us to keep the same mentality for the rest of this series. Draws were no good to us in our quest to make the World Test Championship final, so it was important to be positive,” he added.

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