Pink-ball beauty is in the eye of the beholder as India seize control of third Test
India see clean through the optics to dominate England on opening day/night
India see clean through the optics to dominate England on opening day/night
Scorer: Venkat Raghav | Commentator: Deivarayan Muthu
8.40pm That's a wrap. India have finished this off in under two days to secure an unassailable 2-1 lead. While Kohli's men have taken a step closer to the WTC final at Lord's, England are now out of contention. In case the Ahmedabad pitch is rated poor by the ICC, it will not hurt India's standing in the WTC. More on that in our Rolling Report. We also have a smorgasbord of post-match content lined up for you. Thanks for tuning in. Until next time, this is Deivarayan Muthu signing off for Alan Gardner, Matt Roller, Al Muthu, Debayan Sen, Venkat Raghav and Chandan Duorah. Take care and cheers.
Here is Root again: It is disappointing [to lose this Test] and it has been a tough week. We will take the feelings from this week and harness it. But this shouldn't define us as a team and one defeat will not change us overnight. We have to accept it, move forward, and get better. Going into the game, seeing how the pink ball had seamed around and swung around at practice, we thought that this surface will hold together (on picking just one frontline spinner). Yeah, hindsight is a wonderful thing, right? 250 was par in my eyes on this pitch. It was tricky and the thing was it was very difficult to start your innings. What you look at was the guys who got starts they could've made it count - myself the prime culprit there. Every run does really count and you have to take it and put yourself in a position of strength. To look back now, having lost the game, it [five-for] wasn't enjoyable. The pink ball gathered pace off the surface, but India outplayed us. When SG ball hit the shiny side for the spinners with that plastic cover, it skidded on. Fair play to Axar he exploited it and used it to his advantage. It will be difficult for a few players, but you have to put it [the loss] behind, and that's the challenge for us in a four-match or five-match Test series.
Axar, the Man of the Match, is greeted by massive cheers: It seems easy when it (Test-match five-for) happens, otherwise it feels different. Now that it's happening, I just want to continue my work - not thinking it's easy or difficult. Now that I am taking wickets, no one is making fun of my batting (only 7 runs, laughs). But I hope to contribute with the bat more too (smiling). My strengths are that my bowling is wicket-to-wicket. Don't give batsmen room. Want them to induce mistakes and making things tough for them to score runs. In today's day and age, batsmen have a mindset of sweeping or playing over the top after a few maiden overs, so that's what I try to do. He says that when I bowl a fast arm-ball, he calls me Wasim bhai. Rahane used to call me that, now Rishabh does. Hope to get similar pitches/wickets, so that my form continues too.
Kohli: To be honest, I don't think the quality of batting was at all up to standard from both teams to be honest. They were bundled out...and lack of application from both sides. The ball was coming on nicely yesterday, the odd ball was turning, and it was a very good pitch to bat on. The batting was below-par from both sides. It was bizarre that out of 30 wickets, 21 was to straight balls. It was down to lapse of concentration or playing for turn and beating on the inside. Test cricket is all about it - this is a classic example of batsmen not applying themselves enough. Bumrah said I'm getting workload management while playing the game and Ishi said 'I'm playing my hundredth game and not getting a bowl'. Eventually, he (Washington Sundar) was happy that he got three balls in the whole game. He didn't get any with the bat also - poor guy. Bizarre game - I've never been part of a Test match where things have moved so quickly. A lot of people when Jaddu got injured might have been relieved but this guy (Axar) comes in and bowls faster than Jadeja at that height. I don't know what's with Gujaratis and left-arm spinning allrounders. Along with Jaddu, Ash, Washi has played Test cricket, but [for Axar] to come here and do this with outstanding. We all need to stand up and be proud of what Ashwin has contributed. I told him I will call him ledge [legend] from today, he's a modern-day legend. It was a game of quick-fire runs and quick wickets, but we're going to prepare ourselves for the long grind. A few days off with the hectic schedule is nice as well.
Root: We won the toss and batted first, but we didn't capitalise on that. We could've got 250, which would've been a good total. I'd say one element was the ball - the plastic coating there gathers pace off the wicket - to be brutally honest. Both sides struggled with that throughout the game. We don't define ourselves on a performance like that. I think, more than anything, we shouldn't have any baggage going into the last game. We have some fine players and batsmen who are more than capable of making big scores. Yeah, I think it [my five-for] sort of sums up the wicket and gives a fair amount of spin. Ash getting 400 wickets is a great achievement.
R Ashwin: It feels amazing actually [to reach 400 Test wickets]. The entire stadium stood up and clapped for me. It's quite pleasant that it happened in a winning cause because in the middle when we collapsed for about 145, I thought we might not have enough of a lead on the board and the game could be in the balance. But Axar bowled beautifully in the third innings. I can't really get a grip of what has happened in the last 2-3 months. It has been a dreamy ride and a fairytale. I thought I would not start in Australia, but Jadeja got injured and I worked hard in the lockdown. Both Virat and Ravi bhai had a chat with me in Australia about my batting, and they saw something special in my bowling. I think my bowling was coming along beautifully in the IPL too. I lost about 7-8 kgs in the lockdown and everything looked upwards for me. I don't know if I'm ageing, but it's incredibly hard to watch the game. To come back [after losing the first Test] and win it is even more special. In 2015-16 everyone asked me (if I'm bowling at my best), in 15-16-17, one thing is sure I've always wanted to improve. I won't be surprised if I surpass myself in the future.
7.52pm That is that. India have wrapped up the Ahmedabad pink-ball Test in just over five sessions to secure an unassailable 2-1 lead. This defeat for England means that they can't qualify for the WTC final at Lord's. This is the shortest Test result since January 1935. Sure, the dry, dusty Ahmedabad pitch has come under sharper focus, with some balls spinning viciously and others skidding on rapidly, but the bounce was largely true, and the batsmen couldn't adjust to it. They didn't have enough trust in their defence and kept getting beaten on the inside edge. So, was it really a poor pitch? The jury is not out yet. We will bring you the presentation shortly.
Vivek: "England needed to come out playing aggressive cricket on this pitch for the 2nd innings. Just blast away. If you last 30 overs playing defensive cricket, its probably better to come out of your crease and swing away."
Lakshman Kumar: "So England is officially out of the WTC finale race..!! India need atleast a draw to make it to the Lord's but a loss would send the Aussies through..!"
niksau: "Hats off to the commentators for dealing with what must have been like commentating for Jadeja bowling straight for two days!" --- Time to ice my poor fingers
Shishank dahiya: "For me man of the match is Rohit. His first-innings fifty looks so impactful in the scheme of things. "
Prasanna S: "Love the way Gill is playing spin. He looks so assured and compact with his defense and plays the ball late. Shows the importance of playing domestic cricket in spinning tracks."
Mayank Sharma: "Must appreciate- Menon has been just brilliant with the umpiring. Exceptional accuracy!!!"
Parts of the script for the series ahead were written during the tour of 2021, and India's visits to England that year and the next
Pitch for second Test, in Chennai, also rated average, while tracks for the other two Tests fare better
Where does the Ahmedabad turner rank among the most bowler-friendly pitches in Test history? And which pitch was the most batsman-friendly?
First, though, a flashback to the '70s, and an English master
And is Joe Root's 5 for 8 the best bowling performance by an England captain?