Chennai: “No one said a word about the pitch when India had no chance in the first Test against England.” With these words spin legend Shane Warne silenced Sunday former England captain Michael Vaughan. The latter had slammed the surface used for the second Test at the Chepauk Stadium. Shane Warne hit back at Vaughan for criticising the pitch.
India are seeking to level the four-match Test series after their defeat in the opener. The Indian spinners, especially Ravichandran Ashwin, had the English batsmen on the ropes on the second day of the second match. They are getting help from a pitch which is offering the tweakers vicious turn and bounce.
It all started with a tweet by Vaughan. He tweeted after England began to crumble in reply to India’s first-innings total of 329 all out. “It’s entertaining cricket as things are happening all the time. But let’s be honest. This Pitch is a shocker… Not making any excuses as India have been better but this isn’t a Test Match 5 day prepared Pitch… (sic)” Vaughan tweeted.
In response, Warne pointed out that Rohit Sharma’s brilliant 161 on the first day. He also said that both Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant showed how to bat on this kind of a surface. Warne added that the conditions have been same for both the teams.
“Come on maaaaaate! The last few days of the 1st test, the wicket started exploding. No one said a word about the pitch when India had no chance. At least this Test it’s been the same for both teams from ball one. Eng bowled poorly & Rohit, Pant and Jinx (Rahane) showed how to bat,” Warne wrote.
Warne made another post on the social networking site. “There’s no diff between the ball seaming/spinning too much. We always want a fair contest between bat/ball. India have batted & bowled better than Eng in this match – simple. Conditions have been the same for both sides from ball one. But this is excessive & in favour of the ball,” Warne pointed out
Earlier, Vaughan, who is quite active on social media, had said, “It didn’t do anywhere near as much for 2 sessions… Spun but not like what it’s doing now… India would have drawn the first Test if they had batted anything like in the 1st innings … This isn’t a good Test match pitch,” Vaughan said.
On his part, Warne reiterated that India played better on the first two days. “The toss was more important to win in the 1st test than this one, as it did nothing the 1st 2 days. Then exploded. This one has been a turner from ball one. Eng should’ve bowled India out for 220. No different between spinning or seaming & Rohit showed how to play on this surface,” Warne said.
Meanwhile, former England batsman Kevin Pietersen thought it was brave on India’s part to prepare a rank turner. “Such a brave wicket to prepare for a Test match In India when India are down in the series. If India had lost the toss, they’d have gone down 2-0. Very very brave! Well tossed, @imVkohli,” Pietersen tweeted.