{"id":24975,"date":"2025-11-21T12:01:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T12:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/21\/ashwin-fires-back-at-pitch-critics-after-19-wicket-day-in-ashes-opener-what-if-the-same-cricket-news\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T12:01:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T12:01:11","slug":"ashwin-fires-back-at-pitch-critics-after-19-wicket-day-in-ashes-opener-what-if-the-same-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/21\/ashwin-fires-back-at-pitch-critics-after-19-wicket-day-in-ashes-opener-what-if-the-same-cricket-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Ashwin Fires Back At Pitch Critics After 19-Wicket Day In Ashes Opener: &#8216;What If The Same&#8230;&#8217; | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"story-9723384\">\n<p><span class=\"jsx-395e0e0beb19cb6e jsx-4143937483\">Last Updated:<\/span><time class=\"jsx-395e0e0beb19cb6e jsx-4143937483\">November 21, 2025, 17:30 IST<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"asubttl-9723384\" class=\"jsx-77153e997a009dd0 jsx-1236797328 asubttl-schema\">The Eden Gardens pitch drew sharp criticism earlier this month after 15 wickets fell on Day 1 and the game ended inside three days.<\/h2>\n<div class=\"jsx-cc1b15cf85effb8b artsharwrp\"><a href=\"https:\/\/news18.co\/gnps-en-btn\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"jsx-91f4da8d48c13a79 gglebtn bggrn\"\/><\/p>\n<div id=\"artshare\" class=\"jsx-cc1b15cf85effb8b artshare\">\n<div class=\"jsx-cc1b15cf85effb8b stickdiv\">\n<div class=\"jsx-cc1b15cf85effb8b deskwrapstkdiv\">\n<div class=\"jsx-cc1b15cf85effb8b fontchange\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.news18.com\/dlxczavtqcctuei\/news18\/static\/images\/english\/font.svg\" height=\"30px\" width=\"30px\" alt=\"font\" title=\"font\" class=\"jsx-cc1b15cf85effb8b lazyload\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"jsx-77153e997a009dd0 jsx-1236797328\">\n<figure class=\"jsx-77153e997a009dd0 jsx-1236797328 amimg\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Ravichandran Ashwin retired from Tests in December. (Picture Credit: Sportzpics)\" title=\"Ravichandran Ashwin retired from Tests in December. (Picture Credit: Sportzpics)\" src=\"https:\/\/images.news18.com\/ibnlive\/uploads\/2021\/07\/1627283897_news18_logo-1200x800.jpg?impolicy=website&amp;width=400&amp;height=225\" loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" class=\"jsx-77153e997a009dd0 jsx-1236797328\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Ravichandran Ashwin retired from Tests in December. (Picture Credit: Sportzpics)<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"0\" class=\"story_para_0\">Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin has slammed the critics who took a dig at the Eden Gardens pitch, which saw the first Test between India and South Africa end in less than three days, questioning them on the absence of a similar criticism when 19 wickets fell on Day 1 of the Perth Test of the Ashes.<\/p>\n<p id=\"2\" class=\"story_para_2\"><span class=\"cf0\">The Eden Gardens pitch drew sharp criticism earlier this month after 15 wickets fell on Day 1 and the game ended inside three days, with India not being able to chase a modest 124 in the final innings. <\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"3\" class=\"story_para_3\"><span class=\"cf0\">Former cricketers, including ex-England skipper Michael Vaughan, w<\/span><span class=\"cf0\">ho called the track \u2018awful\u2019, <\/span><span class=\"cf0\">accused India of producing pitches that turned too early and tilted the contest in favour of spinners.<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"5\" class=\"story_para_5\"><span class=\"cf0\">Ashwin, observing the chaos at the Perth Test, pointed out that similar criticism would be absent this time, even though the collapse unfolded in conditions far harsher than anything in the subcontinent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"6\" class=\"story_para_6\">\u201c<span class=\"cf0\">Only 19 wickets fell at Perth today, but an excellent day\u2019s cricket. <\/span><span class=\"cf0\">Oh no! What if the same happens tomorrow in Guwahati?&#8221; Ashwin questioned.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"8\" class=\"story_para_8\"><span class=\"cf0\">A rampant Mitchell <\/span><span class=\"cf0\">Starc<\/span><span class=\"cf0\"> tore through England with figures of 7\/58, leaving them reeling after England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss on a bright morning at a packed Perth Stadium and opted to bat.<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"10\" class=\"story_para_10\"><span class=\"cf0\">Star batter Harry Brook (52) and Ollie Pope (46) provided the lone resistance before England collapsed after lunch. But their pace attack, led by a superb Stokes with 5\/23, roared back to leave Australia 123\/9 at stumps, still 49 behind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"12\" class=\"story_para_12\"><span class=\"cf0\">In a harsh Test debut, opener Jake <\/span><span class=\"cf0\">Weatherald<\/span><span class=\"cf0\"> was floored by a <\/span><span class=\"cf0\">Jofra<\/span><span class=\"cf0\"> Archer rocket and trapped lbw for a second-ball duck. Star batter Marnus Labuschagne battled through 41 deliveries for his nine, but he too fell to Archer\u2019s raw pace, beaten by a searing fuller ball.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"jsx-77153e997a009dd0 jsx-1236797328 atbtlink fp\"><span>First Published:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"rs\">\n<p>November 21, 2025, 17:27 IST<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"jsx-77153e997a009dd0 jsx-1236797328 brdcrmb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/\">News<\/a>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/cricket\/\">cricket<\/a>  <span class=\"brdout\"> Ashwin Fires Back At Pitch Critics After 19-Wicket Day In Ashes Opener: &#8216;What If The Same&#8230;&#8217;<\/span><\/div>\n<div id=\"coral-wrap\" class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f \">\n<div class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f coral-cont\">\n<div class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f coltoptxt\">Disclaimer: Comments reflect users\u2019 views, not News18\u2019s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/disclaimer\/\" class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f\">Terms of Use<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/privacy_policy\/\" class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"jsx-77153e997a009dd0 jsx-1236797328 rmbtn news18_read_more\">Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/cricket\/ashwin-fires-back-at-pitch-critics-after-19-wicket-day-in-ashes-opener-what-if-the-same-ws-l-9723384.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last Updated:November 21, 2025, 17:30 IST The Eden Gardens pitch drew sharp criticism earlier this month after 15 wickets fell on Day 1 and the game ended inside three days. Ravichandran Ashwin retired from Tests in December. (Picture Credit: Sportzpics) Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin has slammed the critics who took a dig at the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}