Kolkata: South Africa trounced India by 30 runs in the first test at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday, giving rise to questions on whether the pitch was what the team management desired.
This was South Africa’s first test win in India after 15 years.
Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president and former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has blamed the Indian team management for the erratic manner in which the pitch has behaved so far.
The pitch offered variable turn and up-and-down bounce since the opening day, resulting in criticism from former cricketers like Michael Vaughan and Harbhajan Singh. Batting has also been difficult from the High Court End, and there have been some dark patches on the track ever since the beginning of the Test.
South Africa posted just 159 runs on the board in the first innings. India replied with 189, taking a lead of just 30 runs. In the third innings, the visitors were able to post 153, thanks to Temba Bavuma’s unbeaten 55-run knock. India were then asked to chase 124 to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
However, India were bowled out for 93, allowing South Africa to win by 30 runs. A big setback for the Indian side was that captain Shubhman Gill could not bat in the second innings as he hurt his neck on Saturday and had to be taken to hospital.
The fact that the match saw only one 50 from the Proteas captain has not gone unnoticed.
Ganguly, while speaking to News18 Bangla, came clean about the preparations for the pitch, saying that, at the request of the Indian team management, the track wasn’t watered for four days; hence, it is no surprise that the 22 yards is offering vicious and sharp purchase for the spinners.
“The pitch is what the Indian camp wanted. This is what happens when you don’t water the pitch for four days. Curator Sujan Mukherjee can’t be blamed,” Ganguly said.
Ganguly had earlier said that the Indian team management didn’t request a rank turner. However, the former India captain’s reveal makes it clear that things definitely changed as the game grew closer.
India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir was seen inspecting the Eden Gardens pitch on November 10 along with batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, and it was then that he also had a chat with chief curator Sujan Mukherjee. After the end of play on Day 2, India’s bowling coach, Morne Morkel, said he was surprised to see how the pitch deteriorated at a rapid pace.
“To be honest with you, even we didn’t expect a wicket to deteriorate so quickly… we all thought when we watched that first couple of hours that it was a good wicket, so it did deteriorate quite quickly, which was unexpected,” Morkel told reporters.
It was believed that the current Indian team management would be hesitant in having rank turners after the home Test series 3-0 loss against New Zealand last year. However, the pitch in Kolkata proved otherwise.
While Sunil Gavaskar said that the Eden pitch wasn’t as much of a turner as those on which the India-New Zealand matches were played, it was certainly a surprise for the batters.
