India National Cricket Team batting coach Sitanshu Kotak has brutally shot down the England National Cricket Team skipper Ben Stokes' 'subcontinent pitch' claim on the Edgbaston surface.
Sitanshu Kotak said that the pitch on the offer for the second Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy didn't look like a 'subcontinental wicket' to him.
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The Bazballing English team had set a clear formula to achieve success in Test cricket - make flat pitches, small boundaries, and out-bat the opposition with their aggressive approach.
It somewhat worked in the first Test match of the series against India at Headingley in Leeds as they clinched an impressive 5-wicket victory, riding on Ben Duckett's last-innings heroics.
However, that strategy backfired in the second Test match at Edgbaston in Birmingham. England bowlers struggled on the batting-friendly pitch and were totally exhausted as the visitors piled up 587 runs in the first innings and 427 runs in the second innings, setting up a target of 608 runs, which the Three Lions couldn't chase and got bowled out for 271, facing a 336-run loss.
In an interaction on the BBC Test Match Special after the match, Ben Stokes said that the Edgbaston pitch acted like a subcontinental surface, which favored the Indian bowlers, and they were better equipped to utilise the surface. He was slammed left, right, and centre for his bizarre excuse for the loss, and many labelled him as a 'crybaby'.
Personally, it didn't look like a subcontinental wicket to me - Sitanshu Kotak
Speaking to the reporters ahead of the Lord's Test, India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak was asked about Ben Stokes' claim, and he totally rejected it, saying the Edgbaston pitch assisted the pacers even on Day 5, and such a thing doesn't happen on a subcontinental surface.
“Personally, it didn't look like a subcontinental wicket to me. Whenever our bowlers bowled, the ball moved. Even in the second innings, the ball was moving even after 40 overs,” said Kotak.
“On the last day, maybe, the ball was turning a little. When you prepare such a hard wicket with grass, it won't create rough but it will have footmarks, which help with the turn. I think they tried to make a hard batting wicket.”
It seems a little bit in the wicket - Sitanshu Kotak
After the Edgbaston Test humiliation, England have been forced to change their strategy, and Brendon McCullum has asked the Lord's curator to prepare a pitch with more life in it.
Talking about the Lord's surface, Sitanshu Kotak said that it might offer more help to the pace bowlers.
"It seems a little bit in the wicket... that there is a lot of green. But tomorrow when these people will do the final cut, after that you can speak," Kotak said.
"Generally, the normal Lord's Test, the scores of the first and second innings, are comparatively low. So you can expect that there can be more help for the bowlers. For the batsmen, the same thing, I believe that it is a mindset. Spending time on the wicket is the best friend you can have. The more time you spend on the wicket, the more you will adjust to the wicket."
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