Ind vs Eng, 4th Test: Jaffer takes dig at visitors, says pitch difficult to complain about
Mar 06, 2021
New Delhi [India], March 6 : Former India batsman Wasim Jaffer on Saturday took a jibe at England's batting line-up and hoped that the visitors would get a decent score in the second innings because there is nothing to complain about the pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Many former England cricketers have been criticising the wickets being used in the four-match Test series as they are favouring more spin. Former England captain Michael Vaughan was quite vocal in his criticism of the pitches used in the series and went a step further and asked for the ICC to look into the wickets after the third game ended in two days.
Taking to Twitter, Jaffer wrote, "I hope England at least get a decent score in the second innings because this pitch is really difficult to complain about. #INDvsENG."
Taking to Instagram, Vaughan on Tuesday shared a picture of him standing in dugup soil with a bat in his hands. "Preparations going well for the 4th Test !! #OnOn #INDvENG," he wrote in the caption.
In the ongoing fourth Test between India and England, the hosts are in the driver's seat as they dismantled the English top-order in the second essay after setting a 160-run lead.
After the completion of 19 overs, England was at 46/4 with Joe Root unbeaten on 16 and Ollie Pope not out on five runs. For India, spinners put the hosts on top as Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel scalped two wickets each.
Earlier, resuming the third day on 294/7, overnight batters Washington Sundar and Axar saw off the first hour with ease and the duo scored runs at a brisk pace, piling on further misery on the tired England bowlers. The first hour saw India scoring 50 runs as both Sundar and Axar looked to make the most of the bad balls from the visiting bowlers.
Just when the 100-run plus partnership looked to take India's lead beyond England's reach, Axar (43) was run out against the run of play. In the very next over, Ishant Sharma (0) was out leg before off the bowling of Ben Stokes and India's score was reduced to 365/9 with Sundar still four runs away from his century.
While Sundar would have hoped for Siraj to hold one end up, Stokes cleaned him up in the same over as the all-rounder was left stranded -- four short of a much-deserved maiden Test century.
