India vs England 2021: I Would Like The Pitch In The Fourth Test To Be Flatter, It Would Suit Our Game Plan: England Coach Chris Silverwood

England coach Chris Silverwood talked about the pitch in the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad during the third Test match and expected it to be better in the fourth Test, hoping it to be flatter given that it suits their game plan.

Silverwood said that the England side expected the pitch in the third Test against India to hold on a little longer than it did after India defeated the visitors by 10 wickets inside two days to pocket the match and go 2-1 up in the series.

They Pushed Us To The Extremes Which Our Players Haven’t Experienced Before: Chris Silverwood

The match saw both India and England batsmen failing to shine and getting out to balls that didn’t turn and skidded through from the spinners. Axar Patel picked 11/70 in the match and was named Player of the Match, while Ravichandran Ashwin continued his good form with 7 wickets in the match.

“First and foremost, it’s just a follow-up from what Joe Root said yesterday, he got 5/8 yesterday but at the same time, whatever the pitch did or it didn’t do, India ultimately played better than us on that surface, probably they pushed us to the extremes which our players haven’t experienced before,” said Silverwood in a virtual press conference on Friday.

Silverwood also clarified that though he and captain Joe Root had a word with match referee Javagal Srinath, it wasn’t about the pitch used in the third Test match.

“Listen, we will be talking about certain things behind the scenes. But at the same time, we were really disappointed that we lost with three days of cricket left. We are where we are, from my point of view, it’s about heading into the next game and coming out fighting. We have spoken to Javagal (match referee), but it was not about the pitch. I think Joe and I need to have discussions about it really and see where we go from there. We have to accept that we need to get better on these pitches,” Silverwood said when asked about whether England would be talking to the ICC about the pitch in 3^rd Test.

I Would Like The Pitch In Fourth Test To Be Flatter, It Suits Our Game Plan: Chris Silverwood

“I would like the pitch in the fourth Test to be a fit flatter, it would suit our gameplan. Yeah, I would like it to be flatter, but we will see what the wicket looks like in the coming days and we will take it from there really,” Silverwood said answering a question about what type of pitch he would like in the fourth Test.

The fourth Test match will begin at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad from March 24 onwards.

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