Gautam Gambhir defended the pitch of Eden Gardens.Image Credit source: PTI
Test cricket returned to Eden Gardens in Kolkata after 6 years but the result was not the same as in 2019. World Test champion South Africa trapped Team India in its own trap at Eden Gardens and won the first Test match by 30 runs and took a 1-0 lead in the series. After this defeat, Team India and especially coach Gautam Gambhir came under attack because his decisions were being questioned. Especially in Eden Gardens, he is being surrounded a lot regarding such a pitch. But Gambhir has now said that he got the pitch he wanted and Team India batted very poorly.
This test match, which started on 14 November at Eden Gardens, ended on the third day i.e. on 16 November with the second session. Team India had a target of 124 runs to win in the fourth innings, but in their circumstances, the Indian batsmen failed to face the spinners and the entire team collapsed on a paltry score of 93 runs. Captain Shubhman Gill could not bat in the second innings due to injury and this also caused loss to the team, but still not being able to chase this score raised many questions.
The way the pitch was behaving on the very second day of the match had surprised everyone and the question was being raised whether Team India itself had actually made such a pitch. After the team’s defeat, coach Gautam Gambhir himself admitted that the team had asked for exactly such a pitch and he blamed poor batting for this defeat. Gambhir said in the press conference, “We got exactly what we wanted and we were happy with it. We wanted exactly the kind of (pitch). The curators were very helpful. If you don’t play well, this is what happens.”
Only one batsman scored a half-century in this match and it came from the bat of South African captain Temba Bavuma in the third innings of the match. Bavuma played an unbeaten inning of 55 runs, on the basis of which South Africa set this difficult target. Giving the example of Bavuma, Gambhir said that good defense was needed on this pitch. He said, “124 was a score worth chasing. There was nothing wrong with this pitch. Bavuma, Akshar and Sundar showed by scoring runs. Those who had good defense, they scored runs. You should know how to bat against spin. If your defense is strong then you can score runs on such a pitch.”
No matter how much Gambhir argues, it is true that in the last one year after his becoming the coach, the Indian team has lost 4 out of 6 test matches at home. Last year also against New Zealand, Team India was not able to play the spinners and lost badly 0-3. Now the Indian team has suffered another defeat. In such a situation, now the eyes will be on whether Team India will ask for a similar pitch in the second Test match starting from November 22 in Guwahati?