Rohit Sharma and Co set to trap England in a slow rank turner in Rajkot as India eye series lead

Team India’s management has reportedly given their greenlight to Saurashtra cricket stadium’s pitch curators to prepare a slow-turning pitch instead of a raging turner for the 3rd Test against England in Rajkot. The pitches for the first two Tests in Hyderabad and Vishakhapatnam were not that much of a turning track as is always expected in Indian conditions.

The Rahul Dravid-led management has asked the curators not to produce a track that turns out to be a Bunsen. India might have asked this for a couple of reasons. First could be the fact that even Indian batters struggle to find their way on those pitches, some batters do but most of them falter in those conditions as was seen in the opening matches.

“The Indian team management is comfortable with a slow turner. They don’t want a raging turner.” – a BCCI official confirmed.

In the 1st Test, none of the Indian batters were able to read the left-arm finger spin of Tom Hartley who registered a 7-wicket haul only in his debut Test outing as well as Jack Leach. England then included another tall off-spinner in the form of teenager Shoaib Bashir who registered 4 wickets across both innings at the ACA-VDCA stadium.

Also Read: Ian Chappell warns team India ahead of the 3rd Test vs England

Hartley too registered 5 wickets in the 2nd Test, picking up 4 in the 2nd innings itself during Shubman Gill’s 1st Test century from number 3. But when England came out to chase down a difficult target of 399 on day 4 when the pitch was cracked up and was expected to favor the spinners, Jasprit Bumrah made the most out of those conditions while veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin became the highest wicket-taking spinner in the 4th innings with 3.

Otherwise, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel, India’s other two spinners accounted for only a wicket each. Even during England’s 1st innings with the bat, it was Jasprit Bumrah who would make the most out of the track with his smart seam bowling that helped him register figures of 6/45 in 15 overs.

Kuldeep was the highest wicket-taking spinner for India in the 2nd innings with 3 wickets as well. The English contingent is very well aware of the fact that the hosts will create pitches that favor them and until now they have done quite well against the likes of Ashwin, Jadeja, Axar, and Kuldeep.

If their batters have struggled against a bowler then it is Jasprit Bumrah who has collected 15 wickets already across 4 innings of the 2 Tests. But there is also an indication that the Indian vice-captain will given a brief rest and is expected to miss the 4th Test in Ranchi to manage their workload.

Also Read: Jasprit Bumrah to be rested in IND vs ENG 4th Test- Reports

Ian Chappell Claims England Were A Better Side Under Joe Root During Their Previous Tour Of India

Former Australian batter Ian Chappell recently stated that the English contingent under the captaincy of Ben Stokes is nowhere near the level England was under Joe Root’s captaincy when they last toured India. Chappell had put forward this point in the context of English batters playing spin better back in 2020/21 than now.

“England under the aggressive leadership of Stokes is a far cry from the poorly captained Joe Root team that capitulated against spin on their last tour of the country.” – Ian Chappell told via ESPNcricinfo. 

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