Pink Ball Test: Motera Pitch Comes Under Scrutiny Again As Spinners Make Hay

The pitch for the third Test here at the colossal and grand Motera stadium looked more like a construction site with puffs of dust rising, and the surface crumbling at both batting ends, even though t

"Similar thing has happened here. The wicket has been prepared under the supervision of the Indian team management. What they did was that they kept the pitch, especially the area around the batsman dry for spinners. It was a day or two before the start of the Test that some water given put on those areas just to settle it," said a source close to the development.

Of the 30 wickets falling in the three completed innings, 28 went to spinners. In the last 72 years, only on two occasions have England fallen for a lower total than 112 after winning the toss and electing to bat.

The second Test pitch survived scrutiny as Rohit Sharma played a blinder and Ravichandran Ashwin scored a century as well.

But it will be interesting to see the rating that match referee here in Ahmedabad, former India fast bowler Javagal Srinath, gives to this surface considering that according to the ICC rules, a pitch that helps spin from early on especially from first session has points docked.