English left-arm spinner Jack Leach has asserted that one shouldn’t take anything away from the Indian spinners by saying bad things about the pitches as he feels they have bowled really well. However, he said, as a cricket fan, it would be better if a Test match lasts longer than two days.
Indian spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel have been on fire in the ongoing series so far. They have taken 24 and 18 wickets respectively and are the two leading wicket-takers in the ongoing series with one Test to go. Especially, in the last two Tests, on rank turners, they have turned up the heat and bamboozled a clueless English batting line-up. In the pink-ball Test in Ahmedabad, they took 18 of the 20 English wickets and helped India register a 10-wicket victory to go 2-1 up in the four-match series.
Left-arm spinner Jack Leach, who has been the best bowler from the English side thus far, has opined that the Indian spinners have done extremely well and one shouldn’t take the credit away from them by badmouthing about the wickets.
“Their spinners bowled really well, I do not think we should take anything away from them by saying bad things about the wicket, they played well and we need to learn from that,” said Leach in a virtual press conference, reported TOI.
However, he added that as a cricket fan, he would have like to see Test matches last more than two days.
“I think that is right. One thing I will say as a cricket fan if I was watching a Test match, I would want it to go longer than two days, that is my only kind of viewing being a cricket fan…. Test match should go on longer than two days, whether that is to the pitch or skill, for me, I am fully concentrating how can I best do on every wicket I play on.”
Leach also revealed that all the talks inside the dressing room have been about getting better than anything else.
“They outbowled us on that wicket, Ashwin is a world-class bowler, Axar was very good on that wicket. All the talk has been in the media, in the dressing room, we just talk about getting better,” he added.
There has been a lot of hue and cry about the nature of the wickets in the ongoing Test series but the English spinner gave it to India for outplaying the visitors in these conditions.
“I do not have too much to say about the pitch, we got outplayed in those conditions and for me, I am always looking to learn. That’s the great thing about our group, we are all in this mindset and we want to learn from what has been a couple of hard games and put in a good performance so yeah, it was tough, even being a spinner on that wicket comes with tough moments,” said Leach.
The 29-year-old has already taken 16 wickets in three Tests, and has bowled really well in the series after a poor performance in the first innings of the Test series opener where he was targeted by Rishabh Pant. He added that he just wants to have an impact on the game irrespective of the surfaces and wants to do his best than get too involved in outside debates.
“I do not have any issues with the pitch from a playing point of view, I just want to make an impact in the game as much as possible,” said Leach.
