IND vs ENG: “We tried to pick our best side in order to utilize the pink ball”, Joe Root

India won the third Test in Ahmedabad against England by 10 wickets. The wicket had so much help for the spinners that the England skipper Joe Root picked up his maiden five-wicket haul in the first inning of India. However, the England team didn’t pick their most spinners in the match rather than Jack Leach who dismissed four batsmen.

Root said that the pitch was looking helpful for the pacers and that’s why they gave rest to Dom Bess and picked Jofra Archer, Broad, and Anderson ahead of spinners. The trio just bowled 24 overs in the match and the rest job was done by Jack Leach and Joe Root. The pink ball Test between Indian and England ended in 2 days and became the shortest Test after the World War era.

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“We tried to pick our best side in order to utilize the pink ball. We thought the wicket would hold a lot better than it did. Seam bowling looked like a real threatening option. Our seamers are our great strength, and we wanted to give them the challenge to explore these conditions,” said Joe Root at the post-match press conference.

Dom Bess who is having a good record in the subcontinent recently lost his place to the spinner and all-rounder Moeen Ali in the second Test of the series. Skipper Joe Rot believes that picking Dom Bess could have been a better decision.

“In hindsight, it’s easier to look at things like that. We could have picked him (Dom Bess). Unfortunately, the seamers didn’t have a big impact as we anticipated. It’s frustrating that it turned out the way it did,” added Joe Root, a part-time off-spinner who went on to pick his maiden First-Class five-for in the Test.

With the loss, India has got a lead of 2-1 in the series and reached one step ahead to the ICC World Test Championship Finals. The chances of England reaching the finals of WTC is over and the final match between India and England will be the decider for the finalist between India and England.