India v England: Joe Root says tourists 'misread' conditions in Ahmedabad
- Published
Fast bowlers returned combined figures of 2-124 in the Test and spinners 28-247
England "misread" conditions in their two-day defeat by India in the third Test, says captain Joe Root.
Seventeen wickets fell on an incredible day in Ahmedabad as India won by 10 wickets and inflicted on England their first loss inside two days since 1921.
England picked three seamers and one spinner for the day-night Test but 28 of the 30 wickets fell to spin.
"We tried to exploit that pink ball. Seam looked a really threatening option," Root said.
"We wanted to give our seamers, which we feel is a big strength of ours, a chance to exploit those conditions. Unfortunately it was a slight misread."
Day-night matches, played with a pink ball, often favour seamers, but Jofra Archer was the only England pace bowler to take a wicket.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad, England's leading Test wicket-takers of all time, bowled 19 unsuccessful overs - the first time they have both failed to take a wicket in 120 Tests together.
Root, a part-time off-spinner, claimed 5-8 and Jack Leach, England's only specialist spinner, 4-54 as India collapsed from 114-3 to 145 all out.
Left-arm spinner Axar Patel and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took 11-70 and 7-74 respectively in the match for India.
"We thought the wicket would hold together better than it did," Root said. "Throughout the practice days it seamed around and swung prodigiously.
"Unfortunately [the fast bowlers] didn't have the impact we anticipated."
'The fans have been robbed'
England were bowled out for 81 before India chased 49 to wrap up victory not long into the final session. It was the shortest Test since 1935.
Root said the fans inside the stadium "had been robbed" but stopped short of saying the surface was unfit for Test cricket.
"Let's not hide away from the fact we've been outplayed again - we have to accept that," Root said.
"It's a real shame because it's a fantastic stadium, there's 60,000 people come to watch a brilliant iconic Test match. I feel for them.
"They've come to watch Virat Kohli face Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad or Jack Leach and watch Ashwin against our top batters. And I almost feel like they've been robbed.
"Instead they've had to watch me get wickets on there, which shouldn't be the case."
Former England spinner Phil Tufnell said he felt "a little bit deprived".
"It was a boiling into a fantastic series and it's become a bit of a shootout and taken away a bit of the skill from the players," he said on The Cricket Social.
India captain Virat Kohli blamed "a lack of application" from batsmen on both sides rather than the pitch.
"The result went our way but the quality of batting wasn't at all up to standard by both teams," he said.
"Our bowlers were much more effective and that's why we got the result."
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