Should such wickets be part of Test matches: Inzamam-ul-Haq slams Ahmedabad pitch, calls for ICC action

The Third Test of the ongoing series between India and England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad drew a lot of criticism for the kind of pitch the match was played on.

The Test ended within two days with India winning by 10 wickets to lead the series 2-1. It was the first time in 54 years that a Test match had finished within two days, and it left the cricketing world divided over the kind of pitch used.

The latest to give his opinion on the matter is former Pakistani captain and batsman Inzamam ul Haq.

He said on his YouTube channel, "No one could have thought, and neither can I remember when was the last time a Test match got over in two days. Did India play that well or was it the behaviour of the wicket? Should such wickets be part of Test matches? I thought India were playing some brilliant cricket. They beat Australia earlier and made a brilliant comeback in the second Test, but preparing such a wicket, I feel is not the right thing to do with cricket."

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He added that even though a team must take advantage of its home conditions, this kind of wickets are detrimental for Test cricket and even the scoreboard of a T20I match looks better than that of the third Test. He appealed to the ICC should take action on this matter.

He cited England captain and part-time off-spinner Joe Root's five-wicket haul to highlight the condition of the wicket and said that when a bowler like Root was performing like this, then Indian spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel do not deserve praise.

He said, "If Joe Root is picking up five wickets in six overs, you can imagine the condition of the wicket. Why should I praise R Ashwin and Axar Patel, when Root is picking up 5/8? Test matches have so many important elements, the venue, the ground, the umpire, referee, so a pitch should also hold some significance. Test match should look like a Test match."

Read more: Pitch will be similar to last two Tests, we never complain about damp wickets abroad: Ajinkya Rahane

He explained his apprehension about uneven wickets by giving the example of the India vs West Indies Test match at Barbados in 1997. In the match, India were chasing 120 to win in the fourth innings and were bowled out for a paltry 81 as Curtly Ambrose, Ian Bishop and Franklyn Rose ran riot with the ball in hand.

"I feel that as a former cricketer, such type of cricket should not be played. When teams come to the sub-continent, they will encounter spin-friendly encounters, but to this extent? I remember in the West Indies, in the fourth innings, it was such an uneven wicket. India needed some 100-125 runs to win (120) and they all got out (81), so much of noise was made even then," he said.

After the match, Root said that his own bowling performance "sums up the wicket", while former Australian international Mark Waugh called the pitch "unacceptable".

But India captain Virat Kohli defended the wicket, saying both sides were let down by their batting, and opener Rohit Sharma insisted there were "no demons" in the pitch.

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England's Geoffrey Boycott agreed that his country could not blame the pitch for their humiliating defeat.

According to renowned cricket writer Sycld Berry of 'The Telegraph': "This unfit pitch was no advert for Test cricket - India should be docked World Championship points."

Berry called on the ICC to ban the newly-built Narendra Modi cricket stadium for producing, what according to him, was a sub-standard wicket.

But he fears that the world body would not be brave enough to do so as the ground has been re-named after India's Prime Minister.