The devil was in the pitch

England have been beaten inside two days in the second Test in Ahmedabad, with some avid watchers of the game describing the 140over match as the shortest completed Test since World War II.

The response was predictable: former captain Michael Vaughan slammed the 'awful' pitch, as a staggering 17 wickets fell on Thursday. Vaughan, who was also highly critical of the pitch prepared for the second Test in Chennai, declared with a degree of finality: Let's be honest this is not a 5 day Test pitch!! If we are going to see these pitches ... I have an answer how it could work ... Give the Teams 3 innings!!!’’

The pitch indeed looked more like a construction site with puffs of dust rising, and the surface crumbling at both batting ends, even though the five-day pink ball Test was barely into its second day.

The ground-staff was summoned in the fifth over of the second day's play and again later to sweep the dust created around the bowlers' footholds.

Andrew Strauss agreed with Vaughan, describing the strip as a 'lottery.' Several former Indian players like Harbhajan Singh and VVS Laxman demurred but Sunil Gavaskar felt otherwise. He said the overtly defensive mindset of the batsmen was responsible for their dismissals as most of them got out to straighter deliveries. Former England spinner Graeme Swann slammed the visitors for playing just one spinner in a Test match in India where pitches are generally spinfriendly. "You cannot come to India and play just one spinner in a Test match and get away on this wicket," he said.

AHMEDABAD: England skipper Joe Root and head coach Chris Silverwood sought umpiring "consistency" in the ongoing daynight Test against India by taking up the matter with match referee Javagal Srinath, "who said that the captain was asking the right questions" of the on-field officials. England were unhappy with two decisions made by third umpire C Shamshuddin on the opening day of the match on Wednesday. While India opener Shubman Gill survived a low slip catch appeal by Stokes in the second over, Sharma's close stumping appeal by Foakes was turned down late in the day. "The England captain and head coach spoke with the match referee after play," an ECB spokesperson said in a statement.

"The captain and head coach acknowledged the challenges the umpires faced and asked respectfully that in making any decisions there was consistency in the process. The match referee said the captain was asking the right questions of the umpires."