"I’m not sure there are any complaints from the England team"- Jofra Archer on pitch debate
Jofra Archer has maintained that there have been no complaints from the England squad over the quality of pitches on offer in the India-England Test series. The fast bowler added that whatever the conditions are, his team need to get on with it.
The third Test match in Ahmedabad ended inside two days, where only 842 balls were bowled. Spinners dominated the proceedings from the start, but Jofra Archer isn't complaining.
In his column for the Daily Mail, the seamer wrote:
"It (Pitch) is not something that we have spoken about between ourselves, and I’m not sure there are any complaints over its quality from the England team. I have always been of the belief that whatever the conditions, you just crack on with it. It doesn’t matter if the ball is spinning or bouncing. To me, it doesn’t matter what pitches we play on."
Following their latest defeat, England can no longer qualify for the ICC World Test Championship final.
However, they can still spoil India's party by winning the last Test. In that case, Australia will qualify for the Lord's final. For India, a draw would be enough to cement their spot in the WTC decider.
"Joe Root encouraged us all to be fearless"- Jofra Archer
Jofra Archer divulged that skipper Joe Root asked his team to be fearless ahead of the second innings in Ahmedabad as they didn't have anything to lose.
"Ahead of the second innings, Joe Root encouraged us all to be fearless in our approach. He wanted us to realise we had nothing to lose and not to go into our shells, and he urged us to keep the same mentality for the rest of this series," Archer wrote.
England looked to be more proactive in the second innings of the third Test, but the move didn't really pay off as they were bowled out for 81, their lowest-ever score in India.
It remains to be seen what kind of conditions will be on offer for the final Test of the series. Some reports indicate that a flat wicket is on the cards for the fourth Test.