“Gautam Gambhir and his team in India must play on much better wickets”- Sourav Ganguly’s direct message to India head coach after Kolkata loss

Sourav Ganguly said that Indian batters deserve to play on good pitches.

The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Sourav Ganguly has shared his take on the Eden Gardens pitch, which hosted the opening match of the India vs South Africa test series. The former Indian captain made a bold claim, saying that it wasn’t the greatest pitch to play on. 

The India vs South Africa first test in Eden Gardens ended inside three days and the pitch came under massive scanner. It was a call from head coach Gautam Gambhir to play on a turning track, where the ball spun sharply and the bounce was uneven as well. 

The 200-run barrier wasn’t crossed across four innings and only one batter, Temba Bavuma, hit a fifty, which suggests the kind of difficulties the batters faced. The ploy to play on turning track backfired for India as they failed to chase a target of 124 runs. 

Following that many cricket experts lashed out at the Indian Cricket Team management for their poor selection of the pitch. Gautam Gambhir, in particular, came under massive scanner after his statement of “we exactly wanted to play on the same statement”. 

Curators from the BCCI come and take over the wickets four days before the Test match – Sourav Ganguly

Talking about the pitch, Sourav Ganguly said that he doesn’t get involved in pitches, adding that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) takes over the wicket four days before the game. 

“No, no, I don’t get involved at all,” he told India Today. “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 admitted that the wicket wasn’t great as the top and middle order batters deserve a better cricketing surface. He urged Gautam Gambhir to play on much better wickets. He added: 

“It was not the greatest, I’ll have to completely admit, and I think the top-order batting, the middle-order batting, you know, deserves a better cricketing surface. It was a full house 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.”

Ganguly also cited the example of pitches in England while keeping his point. He added: 

“So they have to be patient on that. As I said, they have the bowling attack to get 20 wickets, as you saw at the Oval on the last day, as you saw in Edgbaston during that series (vs England), so they can do that as well. Swing comes into play in India with the ball getting old. So it’s just a mindset change.”

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