As the debate over the pitch conditions in the third Test between India and England rages on, West Indies legend Vivian Richards has offered his opinion on the matter by saying that “moaning and groaning” over the track has to stop.
He further said that those lamenting over the pitch must see “the classical side of things in terms of the Indian armoury”. India had won the third Test in the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad by 10 wickets, wrapping up the match within two days.
“I just believe all the moaning and groaning has got to stop and just see the classical side of things in terms of the Indian armoury,” Richards said, adding that from where he is sitting, “it’s good to see”.
Richard posted a video on his Facebook page, in which he is says that he has received questions about the second and third Test matches between India and England.
“…I am a little confused about the question really because there seems to be a lot of moaning and groaning about the wicket that they were playing on,” the 68-year-old is seen saying.
“I just felt that the ones who are moaning, in my opinion, should realise that there are times that you’re going to get a seaming track, a ball that is basically jumping off a good length and everyone thinks that’s a problem for batters. There are times batters sometimes cope with that,” he said.
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Several former players criticised the Motera pitch, in which spinners were able to excel, but batsmen struggled to make a mark, and got out cheaply. India spinners Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin took 11 and 7 wickets respectively in the match while England’s Joe Root took his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
Indian cricketers, including captain Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ashwin, reiterated that both teams lacked when it came to batting with intent and blaming the pitch was unnecessary.
Richards echoed the same sentiments and said that batsmen need to prepare for such conditions rather than complain about the wicket spinning too much.
“…the complaints have been that the wicket is spinning too much and all that sorts of stuff. This is another side of the arc guys,” he said.
“People seem to forget that if you’re going to India, you should expect that. You are going to spin land. You should basically prepare yourself to know what you’re going to encounter rather than the moaning and groaning, especially just recently how quickly that Test match was over.
“It gives England an opportunity and a chance to assess things, to believe that for some reason the wicket that they’re going to encounter in the fourth Test is going to be the same,” he said, adding that England need to come out of their comfort zone.
The West Indies great also praised the Indian bowlers for their performance in the past few years.
“Spin in all part of the game, this is what a Test match brings. The Indian pacers have been brilliant over the past few years in terms of substance, wicket-taking ability and stuff like that.
He further advised England to “get dirty” and find ways to cope with their next encounter against India.
“Now that you’re in India, you are going to encounter things and have got to find a way. You’re going to get dirty. There is nothing in the rule book that says I’ve got to score my runs in pretty, classical ways,” he said.
