IND vs ENG | Don’t think the pitch will be any different from the third Test, expresses Sunil Gavaskar

While England won the first Test in convincing fashion, they have since then not lived upto the reputation of their batting against spin bowling. In the first Test, it was Joe Root, who led the way with a double century. However, since then, with the exception of Zak Crawley, none of the English batsmen have crossed the half-century mark in the series. 

Post the third Test, which ended in just two days, the pitch has turned an unwanted eye towards it, with criticism on the conditions being unfit for Test cricket. While several Indian stars, including Ravichandran Ashwin and Rohit Sharma, have supported the conditions, Sunil Gavaskar has expressed that the pitch won’t be very different from the third Test. 

“I don’t think the pitch will be very different from what we have already seen because it is the same square on which eleven pitches are there, out of which we are going to play on one more pitch. What will happen is that unless there is a lot of rolling done, unless there is a lot of watering done at the same time, this pitch will become drier and then help the ball to turn a little bit more,” Gavaskar told Star Sports, reported Hindustan Times. 

In terms of the Indian set-up, last time around, India fielded three spinners - Ashwin, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar, with Ashwin and Axar transforming the game by their hand. However, the sparse use of the left-handed all-rounder Washington has prompted the fans for a change, with Kuldeep Yadav taking his place. 

Gavaskar, however, stated that India wouldn’t make any changes for the fourth test, barring Jasprit Bumrah. Most likely, the Vidarbha pacer Umesh Yadav is likely to replace the Indian star in the team for the fourth Test. 

“I don’t think any changes can be made. Maybe at best, the Indian team might say that instead of Washington Sundar they might look at playing Kuldeep Yadav though I don’t think that's going to happen. If you have won the Test match in two days and quite comfortably, I don’t think you need to do any changes. So, Mayank and the others will have to wait for some more time,” concluded Sunil Gavaskar.