Eden Gardens pitch under fire following low-scoring Ind vs SA 1st Test

The Eden Gardens pitch has come under scrutiny after a low-scoring Test between India and South Africa. Experts question its suitability for balanced play.

Team India (Image Credit: BCCI)

The Eden Gardens, Kolkata, got a chance to host a Test match after six years. The fans were ecstatic with the news and were hoping to watch the India vs South Africa 1st Test match that goes until the fifth day. To everyone’s surprise, 24 wickets fell by day two, raising concerns about the pitch conditions in Kolkata.

While South Africa were bowled out for 159 runs, followed by India’s 189. Before the start of the Test match, former India cricketer and current Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) President Sourav Ganguly spoke about how the pitch will favour the batters and spinners.

On the contrary, the pitch has had uneven bounce from the start of the game and has been unfavourable for batters. This has made the bowling difficult as well since the bowlers have failed to maintain their line and length.

Watch Jasprit Bumrah’s fiery spell on Day 1 of Eden Test.

As per reports, India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir is not happy with the pitch, as it wasn’t watered the night before the match started. Even England’s former cricketer Michael Vaughan made a comment on the pitch, saying, “Awful pitch in Kolkata.”

Not only him, but also India’s former cricketer Harbhajan Singh has bashed the CAB and pitch curators for providing this kind of pitch. “The pitch is so terrible that no matter where you bowl, the batter does not know about its spin and does not know what to do. No matter how good your technique is, whether it is the great Tendulkar or Virat, I do not think they would have survived on such a surface because one delivery would fly out of nowhere, while the other would stay low and spin,” Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.

CAB President Sourav Ganguly clears air on pitch scrutiny

CAB President Sourav Ganguly has taken a stand for the pitch curators and blamed the Indian team for wanting a pitch like this. He mentioned that the home team had asked not to water the pitch for four days, and the curators shouldn’t be blamed for the disaster.

“The pitch is what the Indian team wanted. This is what happens when you do not water the pitch for four days. Curator Sujan Mukherjee cannot be blamed," Ganguly said, as quoted by News18.

As we write, India have lost three wickets while chasing 124 runs on day three. The batters have failed to contribute throughout the entire match, and since India are playing with just 10 players, it is most likely to get trickier with time.

How to watch the India vs South Africa, 1st Test?

Cricket fans in India can watch the India vs South Africa, 1st Test online on JioHotstar, accessible via OTTplay Premium.

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