There was a bit of a murmur around the Ranchi track in the English media, especially for the veteran cricketers, heading into the fourth match between India and England, before former captain Michael Vaughan called it a "shocker". Both teams indeed struggled on the track, with the cracks widening on Day 3, where 13 wickets fell, 12 of which were taken by spinners, including a collapse of the England lineup. However, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was left fuming at all the talk around the Ranchi track as he cited examples of pitches 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 kept low. The India batting great reckoned that the No. 9 batter did nothing wrong in that delivery and rather fell victim to the uneven bounce that the track showed.
Gavaskar then touched upon the talk around the Ranchi pitch saying that he has seen similar cracks on pitches in Perth and Brisbane, but cricket experts seldom point that out and instead criticise pitches in India.
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“I have seen cracks in the pitches of Perth and Brisbane. When the ball hits the crack in Perth, it goes very viciously past your head. But then nothing happens. You got to play that. You got to show your gumption and guts. But when it happens in India, oh my god, all hell breaks loose,” he said on air.
{{/usCountry}}“I have seen cracks in the pitches of Perth and Brisbane. When the ball hits the crack in Perth, it goes very viciously past your head. But then nothing happens. You got to play that. You got to show your gumption and guts. But when it happens in India, oh my god, all hell breaks loose,” he said on air.
{{/usCountry}}Following Kuldeep's dismissal, Dhruv Jurel took his chances 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 batters failed to build a big score on that lead as the Indian spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja wreaked havoc in picking all 10 wickets. Ashwin ended with a record five-wicket haul, his 35th in his career, while Kuldeep picked up four wickets as England were folded for just 145 runs to hand India target of 192 runs in the fourth Test.