England captain Joe Root has described the New Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad as “fantastic and phenomenal”, saying that the atmosphere within the newly-built splendid stadium will be “electric” in the third Test against India starting Wednesday (February 24) here.
Following a massive defeat in the second Test, Root hopes the Motera Stadium wicket can produce some very good cricket for the day-night Test to be played with the pink ball in Ahmedabad.
Root said during a virtual press conference on Tuesday: “It is a phenomenal stadium. I am sure you are going to see some brilliant cricket over the years on this ground. It looks fantastic; hopefully, the wicket can produce some very good cricket. I am sure the atmosphere within (the stadium) will be electric.”
He further added, “It is also great to see fans back in the previous game. I am sure with the capacity of this ground that noise will go up and you want to be a part of big games.”
The Englishman also lauded India’s R Ashwin for his brilliant all-round performance in the second Test in Chennai, where the off-spinner picked eight wickets in the Test and scored 106 runs to help Team India beat the tourists by 317 runs to level the ongoing four-match Test series last week.
Root said, “He (Ashwin) is a world-class performer. I think he has been quite tricky for everyone, especially for lefties, because how good skillful he is. He is a fine performer at home and guys will have to keep working hard to try and figure out how they are going to score their runs.”
He signed off by saying, “One thing that I watched how he played Jack Leach, for example, in the previous game, scoring hundred, he used the crease to his advantage. Not just coming down to the wicket but also going deep in his crease and made it hard for Jack to bowl at one length.”
(With ANI Inputs)
