IND vs ENG | England are behind because of their bowling and not the pitch, opines Mark Butcher

02/15/2021

Former England batsman Mark Butcher is of the opinion that England are massively behind in the ongoing second Test due to their bowling and not because of the nature of the deck. However, he also added that in any country the ball should't be going through the top on day one of the game.

English fans and experts have gone into a meltdown after England failed miserably in their first innings on day two of the ongoing Chepauk Test. The tourists after winning the Test series opener conceded 329 runs on a turner in the first innings of the second Test after which India's R Ashwin picked up a fifer to restrict England's response to 134 runs. After gaining a big lead, Indian batsmen have done a great job in their second innings as well. But all this hasn't gone down too well with the English pundits, some of whom, have even gone to an extent of asking ICC to dock India WTC points because of the turning nature of the deck.

However, Mark Butcher refused to put down England's woes in the ongoing Test to the Chepauk deck and argued that it has been poor bowling from England that have costed them dearly.

"First of all, let me make this one point. England are not behind because of the pitch. They are behind because of Rohit Sharma’s brilliant batting in the first innings and because they did not bowl very well on a surface where the ball was going through the top from Day 1. To be frank with you, the game is probably beyond England as it is at the moment," Butcher said on Star Sports, reported HT.

"For me, it's not about the pitch or who's on top or who's winning or whether it's unfair on England. England are out there. You've got to play on what you've been given. Of England were 250 runs in front on this surface, it still wouldn’t be a good pitch for me, that’s all," Butcher explained.

However, the former English batsman also added that no matter the country, there shouldn't be pitches where the ball goes through the top on day one of the game.

"You can have teams on top on flat ones, you can have teams on top on pitches where it does play a bit. My opinion is that the ball should not be going through the top on Day 1, on any surface in any country, anytime, anywhere in Test match cricket."

At the time of writing this, India were batting on 183/6 with a big lead of 378 runs on day three of the ongoing Chennai Test.