India vs England: Nobody questions seaming surfaces, we don't crib, Virat Kohli slams pitch critics ahead of 4th Test

India captain Virat Kohli has slammed the pitch critics, saying that there has never been enough criticism of seaming surfaces, unlike in the case of turning pitches.

Team India thrashed England by 10 wickets in the third Test, which ended inside two days, leading to a major criticism of the spin-friendly pitch. Out of England's 20 wickets, 18 went to the Indian spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel.

The local hero, Axar, finished with 11 wickets in his only second Test appearance for India. He already has bagged 18 wickets in the longest format of the game.

"I totally believe that there is always too much noise over spinning tracks. I am sure if our media is in a space to contradict those views or present views which say that it is unfair to criticism only spinning tracks, then I think it will be a balanced conversation.

But the unfortunate bit is that everyone sort of plays along with that narrative and keeps making it news till the time it's irrelevant and then a Test match happens - then on days 4 and 5 no one says anything. But if the match finishes in 2 days, then everyone makes it a big issue.. It just becomes an issue to talk about" Kohli said at a press conference ahead of the fourth and final Test at the same venue.

The Indian skipper also went on to suggest that his side never complaints about the pitches, citing the example of their last New Zealand tour where the surface had a significant amount of grass on it.

"We lost in New Zealand on Day 3 in 36 overs. I am sure none of our people wrote about the pitch. It was about how New Zealand played badly in New Zealand. None of the pitches were criticised .. no one came and saw how much the pitch was doing, how much the ball was moving and how much grass there was on the pitch.

"The reason for our success is we haven't cribbed about any of the pitches we have played on and we would continue to play like that as a team moving forward as well. It has always been the case - spinning tracks come into focus way more and when the ball seams on a particular pitch and teams get bundled out for 40, 50 or 60.. no one writes about the pitch. It's always about bad batting. We all need to be very honest with ourselves - what space are we talking from and what's the idea behind continuing this narrative and what purpose it serves people to continue this conversation which is so one-sided," added Kohli at the same press conference on Wednesday.

With the memorable win in the third Test, India went 2-1 up in the four-match Test series. Kohli's side needs to ensure England do not win the final game in order to qualify for the final of the 2019-21 World Test Championship (WTC). If the series ends in a draw, then it will be the Australians who'll play New Zealand in the final in June at Lord's.