IND vs ENG Live Score, 3rd Test Day 1: Rohit, Jaiswal build start for India vs England | Cricket News
Cricket – Third Test – England Practice – Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot, India – February 14, 2024 England’s Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum look at the pitch. (REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas)
IND vs ENG: How the Rajkot pitch can favour England more than India
“The team management decides the pitch. Not me,” Kuldeep Yadav would say when asked why there have been no akhadas (rank-turners) in the Test series so far. When pressed, he would offer, “Batting is also important.” And leave it at that without getting into the brittleness of India’s batting.
That quote about team-management influencing the pitch was perhaps a freudian slip about the worst-kept secret. Not a secret, really, as Rahul Dravid’s numerous pitch walks and long chats with curators through the series have all been done in the open.
The pitch doesn’t look too far different from the last time England played a Test here under Alastair Cook in 2016. England made 537 and 260 for 3 declared, and India, who had scored 488, almost panic-collapsed on the last day before Virat Kohli (49 not out), R Ashwin (32) and Jadeja (32 not out) saved them as they ended on 172 for 6. (READ MORE)
