The pink ball usually moves a lot more than the red ball. The extra coat of lacquer helps as does the grass that is supposed to be left on ...
The pink ball usually moves a lot more than the red ball. The extra coat of lacquer helps as does the grass that is supposed to be left on the pitch for day-night Tests. But Ahmedabad is dry and dusty and the wickets there have always supported spin.
But as England were picking their playing XI for the third Test against India, they only saw one side of the coin. They focussed too much on the pink ball and forgot to think about the pitch or the conditions that the match was going to be played in.
How else does explain England’s bowling attack on a wicket where spinners claimed 11 of the 13 to fall on Day 1?
England picked three fast bowlers (James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer), a pace-bowling allrounder (Ben Stokes) and one proper spinner (Jack Leach) for the game. Joe Root can also bowl some spin.
They might argue that this is their best set of bowlers but it is clearly an attack that lacks balance. It almost feels like the visitors have taken a knife to a gunfight. In a sense, England put all their eggs in one basket and then would have watched with a fair degree of shock as...
