'Thankfully, Someone Understands The Game': Rohit Sharma Responds As Kevin Pietersen Reflects On The India-England Pink-Ball Test

Unlike most former England cricketers, Kevin Pietersen had a different take on Ahmedabad’s pitch used for the third Test between India and England. Due to the pink-ball Test wrapped within two days, former players from both nations have labelled the track as a disgrace and unfit for Test cricket. But Kevin Pietersen believes that the batting line-ups did not perform well, resulting in a short game.

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England managed only 193 runs in two innings combined, getting bowled out for 112 and 81 in two innings. The English batsmen struggled against Axar Patel, who took 11 wickets in the match and most with straight deliveries. After the visitors’ first innings of 112, they also hit back, dismissing India for 145 as India crumbled from 98-2. But they had to chase only 49 in the fourth innings and did so comfortably to take a 2-1 lead in the four-match rubber.

There was only two half-centurions in the match as Rohit Sharma and Zak Crawley managing 50 plus scores. But none of the other batsmen made telling scores as the pitch offered variable turn. The likes of Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, and David Lloyd have blasted the curators for not preparing a decent track at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

There was nothing dangerous on the wicket: Kevin Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen uploaded a video on his official Instagram account, saying that it was an awful batting performance from both teams. With 21 out of 30 wickets falling to straighter deliveries, there was nothing deadly on the pitch and they needed to bat better. Hence, with that, the match could have gone to day three or four.

“All I am going to say is that the batting was dreadful and awful from both teams. I think if they are honest with themselves, they will admit they batted poorly. 21 of the 30 dismissals came from straight deliveries. There was nothing dangerous on the wicket, there just needed to be better batting. With better batting, this would have gone to Day 3, maybe Day 4,” Pietersen said.

Rohit Sharma replied to the video saying that “Thankfully, someone here understands the game.”