Pundits shocked by ‘unplayable’ India pitch as England captain Ben Stokes left powerless
England legend Steve Harmison insists the Ranchi pitch is 'not good enough for Test cricket' as Ben Stokes was dismissed LBW from a ball that all-but rolled along the floor.
The wicket in Ranchi has been the subject of much discussion with England captain Stokes saying he had 'never seen' a surface like it in the build up to the fourth Test against India.
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An inspired three-wicket spell of bowling from debutant Akash Deep caused most of the damage, rather than uneven bounce, as England lost five wickets in the opening session.
But just on the stroke of lunch, Stokes was dismissed LBW by a Ravindra Jadeja delivery that shot along the floor.
“It keeps really low on Stokes,” Andrew McKenna said on talkSPORT 2's live and exclusive coverage, while commentator Jarrod Kimber and former England bowler Alex Tudor covered their faces in shock.
“He’s walked for an LBW, he knows he’s out. Jadeja has got one. It’s virtually rolled along the floor that one. The captain is walking off with a grin on his face because it’s unplayable. It’s hit him on the logo at the bottom of the ankle.”
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Kimber added: “That wasn’t troubling Stokes because of a good deliver. That has just rolled on day one of a Test match with a hard ball!”
Tudor said: “That’s gone underneath. That’s unplayable. Absolutely unplayable. You’d think there’d be good bounce. Nope.”
England were thankful to have won the toss and batted first in a series where all three matches have been won by the team batting first.
Nevertheless, the morning session was played on fast forward, as England looked to put their foot down on a lively surface, with Zak Crawley at one point striking four consecutive boundaries off Mohammed Siraj’s bowling.
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Siraj’s first over of the match had seen a number of deliveries carrying through to wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel with variable bounce.
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Harmison said: “Once it starts going up and down, then you've got a surface that is pretty much unplayable.
"I know we're only four overs in and I don't want to stick the boot into this surface but I'm not sure this is good enough for Test cricket. I'm really really disappointed with the four overs that we've seen.”
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