India vs England: Nathan Lyon slams Ahmedabad pitch critics - When it starts spinning, the world starts crying

Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon said he doesn't understand the criticism over the pitch that was used for the Pink-ball Test between India and England in Ahmedabad, saying he is "all in" for surfaces that assist spinners. Lyon said he was up all night watching the Test and enjoyed the spinners dominating the proceedings at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

Nathan Lyon was critical of the critics, saying the world "starts crying" only when the pitch offers assistance to spinners but nobody says anything when teams get bowled out cheaply in seaming conditions.

Lyon's comments come after several former cricketers, especially from England, have been crying foul about the Ahmedabad pitch. Former England captains Michael Vaughan, Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss have been severely critical of the Motera surface even as India and England's players played down the role of the pitch for the early finish to the Pink-ball Test.

As many as 27 of the 30 wickets that fell went to spinners as the Pink-ball Test ended in less than 2 days, becoming the shortest completed Test since 1935. England were bundled out for 112 and 81 as India went on to clinch a 10-wicket win and seal a 2-1 lead in the 4-Test series at home.

"We play on seaming wickets around the world and get bowled out for 47, 60. Nobody ever says a thing," Lyon told AAP.

"But as soon as it starts spinning, everyone in the world seems to start crying about it. I don't get it. I'm all for it, it was entertaining.

"I was up all night watching it. It was absolutely brilliant. I'm thinking about bringing that curator out to the SCG," he added.

Lyon, who began his career as a curator himself, said he was baffled to see England play 4 seamers on the Ahmedabad pitch. Notably, Joe Root's men played Jack Leach as their only spinner while India played 3 in R Ashwin, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar.

Captain Root stepped up for England, picking up a 5-wicket haul in the first innings but Ashwin and Axar shared 18 wickets between them over the 2 days of the Test match.

When Ojha batted for spinners

Notably, former India spinner Pragyan Ojha, speaking to Sports Today, had also argued on the same lines while defending the Motera pitch.

"Please talk about Stuart Broad's 8 for 15, the wicket that he was bowling on in that match. What kind of a wicket was that? If the Test finishes in 2 or 3 days in seaming conditions where there is grass that's absolutely fine. But the moment it starts turning and bouncing, that's when you say it's not a 5-day wicket or a Test-match wicket," Ojha had said.

What defines a good pitch?

Meanwhile, India spinner Ashwin, speaking to the press on Saturday, said the pitch debate is getting out of hand and that it needed to stop. Ashwin responded to an English scribe who asked him if he considered the Ahmedabad pitch a 'good one' by posing a return question.

"Who defines what a good surface is? The seam on the first day, then bat well in the next couple of days and spin on the last two days, come on, who makes these rules?" Ashwin said.

"We need to get over it and if you are asking whether the pitch in the third Test was a good surface, I do not see any players of England coming out and complaining."