Table of Contents
ToggleFormer England captain Kevin Pietersen has slammed the England team coach Chris Silverwood for showing a‘ defeatist attitude’ and said that he should stop complaining about the pitch. This debate came after England’s 10-wicket loss in the 3rd Test against India in the pink-ball D/N match at Ahmedabad.
The match that was supposed to be an exciting contest, ended in two days as England was bowled out for 112 and 81, while India made 145 and 49 to win the match and go 2-1 up in the four-match series. This defeat also led to England’s elimination from the race of the ICC World Test Championship final.
This led to former England captains Michael Vaughan, Alastair Cook, and Andrew Strauss questioning the nature of the Ahmedabad pitch, while Silverwood mentioned that the England team management had a talk with match referee Javagal Srinath and was thinking about making an official complaint to the ICC.
If The Head Coach (Chris Silverwood) Is Going To Moan And Complain, That Is An Defeatist Attitude: Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Pietersen is the only former England player who has said that the pitch was not dangerous, but batsmen from both sides batted badly as 28 wickets fell to spinners, with Axar Patel taking 11 and Ravichandran Ashwin taking 7 scalps.
“If Chris Silverwood is now starting to complain and moan about the pitch, if the head coach is going to moan and complain, that is as defeatist an attitude as I have ever heard of. He should wind his neck in. If you point your finger at someone else, four fingers point back at you and that’s what England need to remember,” Pietersen told Talk Sport, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
England Batsmen Should Sort Out Their Defence Against Spinner Before Fourth Test: Kevin Pietersen
Pietersen said that instead of moaning and whining about the state of the pitch, the coach and the players should focus on the fourth Test match and try to iron out their flaws against spinners. He further said their focus should be on winning the fourth Test match.
“I would say, ‘You know what, I played badly, I have got a week now to try and play and practise as best as I can so that we can try and win the next Test match’. Because winning the next Test match and winning two Test matches in India and drawing the series is a damned good feat.
“Instead of the negative, defeatist attitude, instead of blaming the ICC, blaming the pitch, trying to get India deducted points, all the nonsense surrounding that, I would be thinking, ‘Fine, 21 of us missed straight balls, let me go and sort my defence out against the straight ball and the spinner’,” Pietersen added.