I stand by the argument that it is not home advantage that is killing the game but the rise of T20 cricket and players being unable to apply themselves and build an innings. I’m not suggesting all games should be like this, nor am I suggesting it was a perfect pitch. It was an entirely one sided game but not in the usual sense.

The pitch cannot be blamed if a home team is scoring 300+ totals and the visiting team can barely reach 150. Cricket is possibly the most diverse and  adaptable game around. From the bowlers and their variations, to the batsmen and their game plans. It is ridiculous to suggest that just because a player is from another continent they cannot flourish in adverse conditions. Alastair Cook led England to an impressive win in India in 2012/13 and before this game, South Africa were on a nine series away win streak.

It is just as ridiculous to see how many people are complaining about a pitch that was prepared for spin when every country plays to their advantages. No one made a peep about the 500+ totals that Australia and New Zealand continue to rack up on flat pitches. What kind of cricket is that? It’s called cricket just because it lasts five days? People calling Nagpur out for being ‘rubbish pitch’ have no quarrels when a team scores 300 in a day without a wicket falling. This Test got results. This Test had an end game. It was a new challenge for everyone. India included.

It’s impossible to call it ‘home advantage’ when neither team can play. India overplayed their hand this time. There was no need for a pitch with such character. It overshadowed the bowlers own personalities. Ravi Ashwin still shone bright as he completely outplayed the current best and most adaptive batsman in the world, AB de Villiers. His performance however will still be muddled by suggestions that it was all the pitch. India did not need such a pitch to win the game. They have some of the most skilled batsmen in the world and their spinners could run circles around the best even abroad. If it was the case that India had suggested they wanted turning pitches because they believed they couldn’t win without it, I would be disappointed.

Spinners were the leading wicket takers on both sides. It was not so much an excessive ‘home’ advantage as it was an excessive ‘ball’ advantage. The fact that neither team could negotiate the spin says nothing about home advantage. Cricket is a diverse and adaptable game and suggesting that a sport has to follow an exact play every game is also unreasonable.

There is nothing wrong with cricket teams using home conditions to their advantage. It’s what makes winning a Test series abroad so much more prized than winning at home. Teams have the opportunity to conquer new land, build empires and dominate if they are up for the challenge.

Home sides should be given just as much opportunity to defend their land from invasion. It wouldn’t be a challenge for a touring team if they were given pitches they were used to. If every pitch were the same it would just come down to their ranking.  Cricket would become boring. Watching England come within inches of a win in Abu Dhabi was thrilling. They had buckled down on the first few days to rack up the runs on a dead track. Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid then exploited the spinning conditions on the fifth day before the batsmen came out all guns blazing. This was the definition of an invasion (an unsuccessful one, but a valiant effort nonetheless). It was not where they were playing that lost them the series but how. They had shown what they were capable of in the first test.

When the Ashes series was played in England this year, people wept at how Lords could have produced such an emotionless pitch as England were punished for not playing to their advantages. The next two tests were finished off in three days but the fifth test showed us once again it was about the application of the players and not just home advantage. It was not a unreasonable task for a side as strong as Australia, a win was always on the cards.

Overall, this Ashes was one of the shortest Ashes series’ of all time. Batsmen appear to have lost the ability to apply themselves. The level of one day cricket is poisoning Test matches. Players like Cheteshwar Pujara who could do wonders for the Indian ODI squad are left out to remain a ‘test specialist’ while most other batsmen are given a free ticket to play all formats and bring their hit out or get out temperament into Test cricket.

It is not the pitch that is the problem in modern day Tests. We don’t complain about conditions in a one day game. Test cricket has become stuck, no matter where a game is being played. Batsmen are not picked based on their ability to play in certain conditions and they no longer understand the importance of building an innings. A set team is usually chosen to play all over the world. Rohit Sharma was left out of an Indian side playing at home on a turning pitch. Conditions that would have been perfect for him. Whilst Ajinkya Rahane, the more skilled batsman away from home continued to play and struggled against the spin.

Players like Brian Lara and Rahul Dravid are in short supply these days. It is because Test cricket is no longer regarded as the pinnacle of cricket to those other than die hard fans but it needs to be once again. It is not the pitches that need to change, it’s the mindset around the game.