Rohit Sharma showed how to score on a turning pitch - Sunil Gavaskar

Not many would have expected the India - England 3rd Test to finish inside two days but Indian spinners run riot and dismissed England for 112 and 81 in their two innings, helping India to wrap up a dominating 10 wicket victory. The pitch started turning from day one which irked many cricketing experts who've deemed it unfit to play. Slamming the critics, former Indian great, Sunil Gavaskar has cited the example of Rohit Sharma and said that that the pitch wasn’t unplayable.

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“It was not a pitch where the ball was misbehaving constantly. Nothing was kicking up alarmingly. Neither was there any great invariable bounce that the ball would shoot.

The 71 year old believed that the pitch did offer turn to the spinners but as a Test cricketer, one should have the skills to play in those conditions.

"Here, the bounce was actually true, almost. Yes, there was spin, but Test match batsmen should be able to handle the turn or the straighter ones.

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Gavaskar accepted that the conditions were challenging but added that it wasn't something that the batsmen can't cope up with.  

“Challenging, but not treacherously challenging. If you look at the dismissals, the batsmen have contributed to their own downfall. More than the pitch, it was about the mindset which did them in.

Rohit Sharma top-scored in the match with a solid 66 in India’s first inning. Gavaskar said that Rohit Sharma showed that it wasn’t impossible to bat on this wicket.

"Rohit Sharma’s batting in both innings showed you could score runs on this pitch,” said Sunil Gavaskar, one of India’s best batsmen.

The loss to India meant that England are out of contention for a berth in the final of the World Test Championship. India on the other hand need to escape a defeat in the final Test to face New Zealand in the summit clash of the WTC.