Kevin Pietersen questioned the nature of the Hyderabad pitch during Day One of the first Test match between India and England, saying that some balls had played “more like a Day Five” surface.

England collapsed to India’s spinners before Tea in the opening match of the series. Having put on 55 runs for no loss against early pace, R Ashwin struck in his second over to dismiss Ben Duckett, before Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope both fell to spin before Lunch. Following a 61-run partnership between Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, England lost a further three wickets to spin within ten overs. Axar Patel bowled a beauty which ripped off the surface to bowl Bairstow, while Ravindra Jadeja also found sharp turn to take out Tom Hartley’s leg stump.

Ben Stokes, however, accelerated before Tea, taking 14 runs off one over from Jadeja and taking England past 200 before the interval. Speaking on commentary towards the end of the second session, Pietersen was asked by Dinesh Karthik how he thought the pitch had played and whether England had enough runs on the board.

“I think if you have a look at the scenario and you have a look at what the wicket has done, it’s simply not enough. It’s certainly not a Day One wicket,” said Pietersen.

“It’s more a Day Three, Day Four wicket. There have been a few deliveries that looked like a Day Five wicket. S0 194-8, I’d say runs on the board, try and get to 220, 230 – with Ben Stokes there anything can happen. Wood could also get a couple of boundaries away. Batting first on this, I think it [England’s score] is steady.”

The pitches were a significant talking point coming into the series. Rohit Sharma criticised ICC’s rating for their double standards towards Indian pitches, following India’s loss inside two days in Cape Town, in the wake of poor ratings for several World Cup pitches. Both sides also selected three specialist spinners for the first Test, with England choosing to only field one pace-bowler (Mark Wood) to accommodate more spin options.

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