Mohammad Azharuddin Lashes Out at India, England Batsmen for Wearing ‘Spikes When Batting’ During IND vs ENG Day-Night Test
Rohit Sharma’s 66 off 96 balls and Zak Crawley’s 53 from 84 were the only half-centuries scored in the match. The next best score was 27 by Virat Kohli in the only innings he batted. 10 batsman were out for ducks in the match among which Jonny Bairstow and James Anderson bagged a pair. Spinners took 28 of the 30 wickets that fell.
Mohammad Azharuddin lashed out at the batsmen of the India and England teams for wearing spikes while batting on a dry wicket at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad. India beat England by 10 wickets in the day-night Test to take a 2-1 lead in the four-match series. On a turning track, both sets of batsmen failed to establish themselves and were dismissed for less than 150 runs in each innings. As many as 30 wickets fell within two days of the pink-ball Test with England losing their 20 wickets in two sessions and India losing their last seven wickets for only 31 runs in the first innings. Virat Kohli Speaks Gujarati, Praises Axar Patel After India Beats England; Says ‘Aye Bapu Thaari Bowling Kamal Chhe’.
Rohit Sharma’s 66 off 96 balls and Zak Crawley’s 53 from 84 were the only half-centuries scored in the match. The next best score was 27 by Virat Kohli in the only innings he batted. 10 batsman were out for ducks in the match among which Jonny Bairstow and James Anderson bagged a pair. Spinners took 28 of the 30 wickets that fell. With the ball turning square and the batsmen failing to negotiate the one delivery that straightened, Azharuddin felt assured footwork would have helped them. Yuvraj Singh Takes A Jibe At Shubman Gill For Poor Shot Selection in First Innings of IND vs ENG 3rd Test 2021.
Mohammad Azharuddin Disappointed With India, England Batsmen
The former India captain, who scored 13 of his 22 Test hundreds in India including the famous 152 against Sri Lanka at the old Motera Stadium, was also disappointed to see the players batting wearing spikes. “It makes little sense to wear spikes when batting.Rubber soles dont hamper ability of batsmen,” tweeted Azhar, now President of the Hyderabad Cricket Association.
“It was disappointing to watch the batsmen come a cropper in the Ahmedabad Test.The key to batting on such dry tracks and rank turners is shot-selection and assured footwork,” he wrote in the first of a series of posts.
Azharuddin said he has witnessed a number of ‘amazing Test knocks’ being played on tough surfaces (like the surface for the Motera Stadium) by batsmen wearing shoes with rubber soles. He also pointed out that tennis professionals play wearing shoes with rubber soles ruling out the argument that batsmen might slip while running wearing such shoes.
Azharuddin Wants Batsmen to Wear Shoes With Rubber Soles on Dry Surfaces
“I have seen some amazing Test knocks being played on tough surfaces by batsmen who wore shoes with rubber soles,” said the 58-year-old. “The argument that batsmen can slip when running between wickets is countered by the fact that in Wimbledon,all tennis players wear shoes with rubber soles.” He also said that great knocks on Indian rank-turners have not been only played by great Indian batsmen but also by stars from overseas.
“And the ones that come to mind are not just Indians like Sunil Gavaskar Mohinder Amarnath and Dilip Vengsarkar but also many a visiting batsman like Sir Vivian Richards,Mike Gatting Allan Border,Clive Lloyd and several others.”
Azharuddin represented India in 99 Tests and 334 ODIs. He scored 6215 runs with 22 hundreds and 21 half-centuries in Tests while hitting 9378 runs in ODIs with the help of seven centuries and 58 half-centuries.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 26, 2021 04:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).