Amid the debate over the deteriorating pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium used for the second Test, England’s spin bowling coach Jeetan Patel said the tourists were aware that the ball spins in the subcontinent while saying it can be an “educational thing” for someone outside the group.
A number of former cricketers have been criticizing the quality of the Chepauk pitch as the spinners from both sides – India and England dominated the second Test with Moeen Ali and R Ashwin returned with an 8-wicket haul each in the recent second Test in Chennai.
However, England’s spin consultant found the debate unnecessary as he said “everyone knows it's going to spin when you come to the sub-continent” and that got to see in the second Test which the tourists lost by 317 runs against Team India on Tuesday (February 16).
Patel said in a virtual press conference: “I think everyone coming to the subcontinent knows that it's going to spin. In Sri Lanka, the ball spun from ball one. The first Test in Sri Lanka spun from ball one.
So, I think we understand it all as a playing group, maybe it's an educational thing for someone outside the group but if you're in the sub-continent, wickets spin. Subcontinent wicket spin, they don't seam around as much, the ball gets soft quickly and doesn't swing that much.”
The spin bowling coach further added, “The ball gets softer quicker, it doesn't seam as much, so there has to be something in the wicket. Has it accelerated a bit quickly? Probably so, but we are playing in the subcontinent, like when teams come to England or other places where it seams around for too long. It's just cricket in different parts of the world.”
He also lauded Virat Kohli and Ashwin for their batting efforts in the second Test.
Read Also: IND v ENG 2021: "Virat Kohli seems to have gotten that vibe back," says Michael Vaughan
Patel lauded India's Virat Kohli and Ravi Ashwin's performance with the bat.
“I think Ashwin and Kohli were fantastic. Kohli in the second innings, got down to the ball, the way he got across the stumps. Ashwin came in and swept early and got the field he wanted. They (India) are in a very strong position. there's no doubt about that, we'll have to work really hard to get some of that back,” he said.
He said there were positives to be taken from the second Test for England and that’s the spinners Moeen Ali and Jack Leach who have been excellent in the defeat game in Chennai.
Patel signed off by saying, “There are positives to take from every game of cricket, doesn't matter if you're on the winning side or not. The fantastic thing is Mo (Meen Ali) bowled 60 overs in a Test match and has taken eight wickets, probably should have had nine or 10. Jack Leach has continued his improvement, Ben Foakes has come in and impressed.”
(With PTI Inputs)
