Speculations were rife that the pitches will be rank turners during England’s five-Test tour of India. However, the wickets in the first three Tests have been rather sporting.
While the Hyderabad pitch for the series opener was a slow turner, the surface for the second and third Tests in Vizag and Rajkot remained relatively flat for the majority of the match.
India’s four spinners - R Ashwin (11), Ravindra Jadeja (12), Kuldeep Yadav (8) and Akshar Patel (5) - together have claimed 36 wickets across three Tests as compared to 22 by pacers so far.
The numbers might be favouring the tweakers, but India batter Shubman Gill reckons that the fast bowler have kept the hosts ahead in the ongoing series.
"Wherever we play in India, wickets help spinners a bit. Ash bhai and Jaddu bhai will take wickets anyway, but the way our fast bowlers have bowled, it has made the difference in this series," said Gill during a media interaction ahead of fourth Test, starting on February 23 in Ranchi.
Leading the series 2-1, India have rested Jasprit Bumrah for the Ranchi Test as part of the workload management. The right-arm quick spearheaded the pace attack brilliantly, taking 27 wickets from three Tests.
However, Gill cited the example of Mohammed Siraj’s spell in Rajkot to say that the other Indian pacers have enough experience in these conditions to make an impact.
"Like I talked about Virat bhai, if a player in the class of Boom bhai is not playing, any team will miss him, especially since he leads our fast-bowling attack. But if you look at it, Siraj took four wickets in crucial times in the last match.
"So, I think, all the pacers have enough experience in Indian conditions, especially bowling reverse swing," he stated.
Star batter Virat Kohli pulled out of the entire Test series against England due to ‘personal reasons’, but young batters have stepped up to the plate for India.
Gill gave the example of Sarfaraz Khan, who made twin fifties on debut in Rajkot.
"Virat bhai is not with us for the last three Tests, and yes, the absence of a player of his class makes a bit of difference. But I think Sarfaraz came in and played well. So, I think players are doing well in the opportunities that they are getting."
"The young players have got the opportunity because Virat bhai or Bumrah bhai are not there. So, those youngsters also know that this opportunity might not remain with them for long, so they are trying to give their best in every opportunity," he further remarked.
Young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has taken the cricketing world by storm with his stunning exploits in the ongoing series against England, slamming double tons (209 and 214*) in the second and third Tests respectively.
After the Vizag Test, India skipper Rohit Sharma had hoped that Jaiswal would remain humble and build on this brilliant start to his career.
However, Gill has a different viewpoint as he believes as long as someone like Jaiswal can pile up big runs, the attitude should not come under focus.
"I don't think there is a problem with youngsters being not humble. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored double tons in back to back match. You know, if you don't have it (talent) then you will not be scoring back-to-back double hundreds.
"Not many in world cricket have scored back-to-back double hundreds. He definitely is a sensational player. We have seen it over eight or nine Tests. I don’t think there is any conscious decision, maybe Rohit bhai did not want to talk about it at that point of time (not praising Jaiswal directly)," he said.
(With PTI Inputs)
