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'Going way too far': Mark Waugh calls pitches used in Chennai and Ahmedabad 'unacceptable'
India vs England: Waugh said that pitches which offer turn from Day 1 of a Test match are not acceptable.
Mark Waugh has joined the list of former cricketers dissing the pitches used in the ongoing Test series between India and England. Waugh has stated that not only is he a fan of the surface that was used for the third Test in Ahmedabad, the former Australia batsman has also criticised the one that was used for the second Test in Chennai.
In response to a Tweet posted by Fox Cricket quoting Nathan Lyon, where the off-spinner said he is all for such pitches, Waugh agreed with the Australia spinner but said pitches that offer turn from Day 1 of a Test match are not acceptable.
"I'm all for spin friendly pitches as well but what we saw in the last 2 Tests was going way too far. Balls exploding from day 1 is not acceptable. If these 2 surfaces are what is dished up then you are going to see 2/3 days Test matches regularly and fast bowlers being extinct," Waugh tweeted.
Shortly after India wrapped up the Ahmedabad pink-ball Test by 10 wickets inside two days, former England captain Michael Vaughan tweeted that the surface was 'an awful pitch for Test cricket '. To it, Waugh had responded saying that England, who scored 112 and 81 in the two innings, would have struggled to score even these many, in Chennai and Ahmedabad alike, had Ravindra Jadeja been playing for India.
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"Scores would have been even lower in the last 2 tests if Jadeja had been playing. You know when Joe Root gets 5/8 the pitch is very questionable," Waugh had tweeted.
There has been plenty of hoopla surrounding the surface used at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, with opinions divided among several former cricketers. Some believe that the pitch used is not ideal for Test match, such as Vaughan, Waugh and Shoaib Akhtar, while there are also those who see nothing wrong in it, including the likes of Kevin Pietersen, Nathan Lyon and Viv Richards.
