The pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai being used for the ongoing second Test between India and England has received a lot of criticism from several former cricketers and fans as well on social media for being spin-friendly from the start.
Michael Vaughan, Mark Waugh, and Kevin Pietersen are among the cricketers who questioned the nature of the Chepauk pitch, while Australian spin legend Shane Warner found the criticism unfair as India batsmen batted brilliantly on the same Chepauk pitch in both innings.
After India posted 615 runs on the board across two innings on this pitch, which led to Warne taking a dig at them by making a fair point that Indians batted better than the tourists on the tough spinning pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Former cricketers are coming up with different opinions about the Chepauk pitch, as the six India wickets fell on Day 1 while Day 2 saw 15 wickets fall in the ongoing second Test in Chennai with the pitch offering excessive spin too early in the game as England bowled out for just 134 in their first innings.
However, in contrast, Team India batted brilliantly, posting 329 in the first innings and 286 in the second inning with England facing the tricky tasks to chase 482 runs to win the second Test against the hosts.
The ongoing second Test saw Indian cricketers R Ashwin and Rohit Sharma scoring a century while Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, and Rishabh Pant each notched up fifties on the same Chepauk pitch, whereas no English batsman managed to score a fifty in the first innings in the ongoing second Test in Chennai.
Taking to Twitter on Monday, Warne said that India has made more than 600 runs on the “bad pitch” whereas England batsmen are struggling to score on the same pitch.
Warne tweeted: “India have now made 523 runs on this so-called "bad pitch" and they still have 2 wickets in hand! Thoughts?”
He also lauded Ashwin for scoring a magnificent hundred on the tough Chepauk pitch on Day 3 to help India set a daunting task for England to win the game in Chennai.
(With ANI Inputs)
