Michael Vaughan slams England's batting instead of the pitch in the fourth Test

Michael Vaughan, who has come under fire from Indian fans on social media for his controversial take on pitches, said England's batting on the first day of the fourth Test was worse than any pitch that has been on offer in this series.

The former skipper slammed England's batting after the visitors won the toss and elected to bat first.

England’s batting so far worse than any of the last few Tests ... This Pitch is a perfect surface to get a big first innings score ... No spin ... Ball coming onto the Bat ... Very poor Batting so far ... #INDvENG

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 4, 2021

Vaughan is known for his blunt comments, but he opined that the fourth Test pitch is perfect for batting in the first innings. However, England have seemingly not taken full advantage of the conditions that have been on offer.

Vaughan took to Twitter to express his thoughts on England's batting. He wrote:

"England’s batting so far worse than any of the last few Tests ... This Pitch is a perfect surface to get a big first innings score ... No spin ... Ball coming onto the Bat ... Very poor Batting so far."

England found themselves 136-5 at the time of writing, with Axar Patel once again doing the early damage for the hosts. Dom Sibley (2) seemingly didn't learn from the third Test and got bowled by a straight delivery.

India then went on to dismiss Zak Crawley (9) and Joe Root (5) cheaply before Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes got together and stitched a partnership with the score reading 74-3 at lunch.

However, the partnership was short-lived, with Mohammed Siraj getting the better of Bairstow for 28 after the first session.

England will hope that the extra batsman they have played in this Test will come to the rescue and help them post a decent total in the first innings.

England out of contention for World Test Championship final

Virat Kohli (L) & Joe Root

England cannot make it to the ICC World Test Championship final after losing the third Test to India by 10 wickets. However, they could spoil India's party by winning the final Test and leveling the series at 2-2. In that scenario, Australia will go through to the final where they will meet New Zealand in the summit clash.

For India, even a draw would suffice in the final Test. However, skipper Virat Kohli has made it clear that his team will always play for the win.

THAT wicket feeling 😌💙@Paytm #INDvENG #TeamIndiaFollow the match 👉 https://t.co/9KnAXjaKfb pic.twitter.com/4Cds5jjz23

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 4, 2021