Ben Stokes, the captain of the England cricket team, expressed his surprise at the surface during the fourth Test match between India and England in Ranchi, saying he had 'never seen anything like that before'. The visitors, who are already behind 1-2 in the five-match series, need to win this Friday's game to secure the series. According to Stokes, the Ranchi pitch appears to have a decent grass cover from a distance, but upon closer inspection, the all-rounder discovered that there are multiple visible cracks, making it difficult for both the bowling and batting teams to play on. This was stated in a recent interview.
'I have never seen something like that before. I have got no idea so I don't know what could happen. If you looked down one side of opposite ends it just looked different to what I am used to seeing, especially out in India. It looked green and grassy up in the changing rooms, but then you go out there it looked different: very dark and crumbly and quite a few cracks in it,' Stokes told BBC Sport.
Vice-captain Ollie Pope stated on Wednesday that England would not mind a rank turner in the fourth Test because support for spinners from the outset will provide an even playing field.
There was something for everyone on the athletic surfaces in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, and Rajkot, which were not primarily spin-friendly.
There was something for everyone on the athletic surfaces in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, and Rajkot, which were not primarily spin-friendly.
'If it does spin from ball one, it takes the toss out of the equation, then it's an even playing field,' Pope told the press.
'The wicket often begins flat and subsequently degrades over time. India batted first in the final two games, but we won the first one. If you bat first on a little flatter wicket, that gives you an advantage but doesn't determine the outcome,' he continued.
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