IND vs ENG | Virat Kohli defended the wicket as if it's a BCCI thing, opines Alastair Cook

02/27/2021

Alastair Cook has come out strongly in his assessment of Virat Kohli's comments about the third Test pitch as the southpaw stated that the Indian skipper defended the wicket as if it's a BCCI thing. He also added that both Kohli and Root are great players of spin and yet they struggled in the game.

There has been intense scrutiny and debate surrounding the nature of the pitch in the day-night Test between India and England. So far in the series the quality of cricket has taken a backseat with the pitch turning out to be the talk of the town. All of it started when England struggled badly on a square turner in the second Test which India won without breaking a sweat. And after that, the third Test pitch has polarized the opinions more than ever, also because the Test finished well inside the first two days at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, which made its international debut with the game.

Former English Test skipper Alastair Cook has reckoned that Virat Kohli's pitch assessment post the third Test was more like defending as if it's a BCCI thing or else, it was a hard pitch to bat on.

"Virat Kohli's come out and defended the wicket almost as if it's a BCCI thing -- it cannot possibly be the wicket. Yet it was so hard to bat on that. So hard," Cook told Channel 4, reported TOI

"Take the wicket out and blame the batsmen?" Cook asked on Kohli's comments. He further added that both Virat Kohli and Joe Root are very good players of spin and even they struggled, forget about others.

"We've got Virat Kohli, Joe Root, we have some great players of spin. Yes, we've got some people who have got to learn to play spin better, but we have got great players of spin also struggling.

"To me it'd be great to have that game with the red ball to see the difference when the ball is skidding on. Today trying to play properly, it was nigh-on impossible."

The former English Test opener, who was key to England's Test series triumph in India in 2012/13, stated that the pitch turned more than any other deck in India. He also added that the ball was skidding on the pitch and turning miles.

"We saw a stat that says this pitch has spun more than any other pitch in India. There's been so many other balls that have gone straight on as well. So that means when it is turning, it is turning miles.

"When you see the highlights and the ball skidding on you, we don't see the build-up: when the exact same ball is spinning miles," Cook said.