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There was a bit of a buzz on the Ranchi track in the English media, especially among senior cricketers, ahead of the fourth match between India and England, before former captain Michael Vaughan called it a “surprise”. In fact, both teams struggled on the track, with the cracks widening on Day 3, where 13 wickets fell, 12 of which were taken by spinners, including the collapse of England’s line-up. However, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was infuriated by all the talk on the Ranchi track and cited examples from camps in Perth and Brisbane.
Gavaskar’s comment came early on Day 3 at the JSCA International Stadium after James Anderson ended Kuldeep Yadav’s vigil with a delivery that stayed low. The great Indian batsman considered that the number 9 batsman did nothing wrong in that delivery and rather was a victim of the uneven bounce that the track showed.
Gavaskar then referred to the talk about the Ranchi pitch and said that he had seen similar cracks on pitches in Perth and Brisbane, but cricket experts rarely point it out and instead criticize Indian pitches.
“I have seen cracks on the courts in Perth and Brisbane. When the ball hits the crack in Perth, it goes very brutally over your head. But then nothing happens. You have to play that. You have to show your courage and guts. But when it happens in India, oh my God, all hell breaks loose,” she said on air.
After Kuldeep’s dismissal, Dhruv Jurel took advantage of his opportunities against the England spinners in a rather aggressive route to score an inspiring 90 that helped India reduce the first innings deficit to just 46 runs.
In response, England’s batsmen failed to build a big score with that lead as the Indian trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja wreaked havoc by picking all 10 wickets. Ashwin finished with a record five-wicket haul, the 35th in his career, while Kuldeep picked up four wickets as England folded for just 145 runs to hand India the target of 192 runs in the fourth Test.