Gautam Gambhir Sack: The first test between India and South Africa turned out to be a disaster for the Indian team, where Temba Bavuma’s South Africa won by 30 runs, leading the series by 1-0. Due to Shubman Gill’s injury, India lacked batters, and the pitch condition of Eden Gardens felt like a main problem for India’s loss.
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president and former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly shared his thoughts on the preparation of pitches in India, stating how the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) curators take over the pitch four days before the actual game starts.
“It was not the greatest….”: Sourav Ganguly
When Sourav Ganguly was asked about his opinion, it was sought by the Indian team management before the nature of the pitch was finalized.
He said,
“No, no, I don’t get involved at all. Curators from the BCCI come and take over the wickets four days before the Test match. We have our own curator (Sujan Mukherjee) as well, who’s done exceptionally well for a long time. The requests are made, and you keep the requests. That’s what it is.”
Ganguly didn’t hesitate in accepting the fact that the pitch wasn’t the greatest, saying that the Indian team deserves a better surface to play on.
He said,
“It was not the greatest, I’ll have to completely admit, and I think the top-order batting and the middle-order batting, you know, deserve a better cricketing surface. It was a house full at Eden Gardens for those three days, and I completely believe that Gautam Gambhir and his team in India must play on much better wickets than what they played at Eden Gardens.”
Eden Gardens curator Sujan Mukherjee also stated that he only follows the instruction given to him by the Gautam Gambhir-led Indian team management.
He said,
“Sometimes it is beyond our control, and we try to keep the request of the team and the coach and the captain. And that is what we do, so that’s what it is. And you’ve heard Gautam Gambhir say after the game that he wanted that sort of a pitch and was given that sort of a pitch. So you keep the captain’s and the coach’s request.”
Gautam Gambhir Sack
The Kolkata Test has put a lot of pressure on Gautam Gambhir and the team at this stage. However, Ganguly feels that there’s no need to sack the Indian coach yet.
He said,
“There is no question of sacking Gautam Gambhir at this stage. Gautam as a coach and Shubman as a captain did exceptionally well in England on good batting pitches, and I firmly believe that they can do well in India as well.”
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