The ongoing second Test match between India and England being played in Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium has been in news especially for the wicket that was laid out for this encounter.
The pitch was dark in color and as expected and predicted by cricket experts, started turning from day one. Indian captain Virat Kohli won a crucial toss and decided to bat first. Though England spinners made the ball turn and spin as expected, the Indian batsmen decided to counterattack, with Rohit Sharma leading the way with 161, while Rishabh Pant and Ajinkya Rahane also made half-centuries.
India ended up with a more than decent 329 runs in the first innings.
England, after their brilliant showing in the first Test, was expected to counter the Indian spinners well, but it was not to be as only Ben Foakes, who remained unbeaten on 42 and to some extent, Ollie Pope (22) dealt with the pitch and the spin of R Ashwin.
Ashwin ended with yet another five-wicket haul, while debutant Akshar Patel took two wickets, including that of captain Joe Root, getting out caught while sweeping. Ishant Sharma picked two wickets and Mohammed Siraj also got one scalp, as England folded for 134 runs, giving India a lead of 295 runs.
At the end of day 2, India ended on 54/1, with a lead of 249 runs with 9 wickets in hand.
The pitch was a huge topic of discussion as Ashwin and Akshar’s deliveries spun sharply and a few kept low as well. Rishabh Pant kept the wickets well despite the obvious difficulties.
This discussion first had Michael Vaughan of England engaging with Australia’s Shane Warne in a debate, where Vaughan called the Chennai pitch unfit for Test cricket.
After those two, Australia’s Mark Waugh and former England captains Kevin Pietersen and Michael Atherton decided to opine on the matter as well, with Waugh criticizing the pitch for turning from day one, while Pietersen called the pitch a 'brave' one and Atherton saying that the pitch has been same for both teams since day one and Indian spinners took better advantage of it than England’s.
Here are the tweets:
