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India is hosting England in the first of the five-match Test series at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. However, the hosts looked in a commanding position for the majority of the time, England got back on top after posting a 230-run lead at the end of their inning, courtesy Ollie Pope’s 196.
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While the game had its moments, the pitch at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium was once again the talking point. While on Day 1 of the ongoing Test, former England captain Kevin Pietersen criticised the nature of the pitch, Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar, who has been part of the commentary panel, hit back at the former’s comment.
“It’s not as if the ball was spinning and bouncing, look at the dismissals. (Zak) Crawley caught at mid-on, Root out sweeping. All the other batters …. technique was not good. It wasn’t turning and bouncing that much. When you play Test cricket and are coming to India, you have to expect the ball to turn on Day 1. You can’t expect the ball to go straight through,” Gavaskar said.
Speaking of the match, England posted 420 runs in their second innings, putting up 231-run target for the hosts to clinch the opening Test and go 1-0 up in the series. However, with seven Indian batters already heading back to the pavilion, all-rounder R Ashwin (15) and Srikar Bharat (20) have steadied the inning with the hosts needs 76 runs to win at the end of 58 overs.
