Days after the first Test between India and World Test Champions South Africa concluded in less than three days, which saw the Protean side register a win against India in a Test match after 15 years,
the Eden Gardens pitch became the most-talked factor. While several have been speaking around the same for some days now, former Indian cricketer and legend Sunil Gavaskar recently weighed on the pitch controversy.
The legend was of the opinion that teams should not attempt to influence the pitch curators and the task should remain solely of the curator. Speaking in an exclusive interaction with India Today, Gavaskar said, “Well, you know what happens in the IPL? No IPL franchise can influence a curator to prepare any specific kind of pitch. The curator works independently. If he happens to be a die-hard fan of the home franchise, he might prepare a surface that suits their strengths — but that’s entirely his call.”
He also added, “It’s always best to leave the curator alone because he knows his job better than anyone else. When you start asking him to mix things up or prepare a pitch a certain way, it can easily backfire. That is exactly what you want to avoid.”
Sunil Gavaskar backs Gautam Gambhir; hits out at Indian batters for “poor technique and temperament”
While he was in sync with the Indian head coach, who also opined that 124 was a chaseable target and the batters lacked technique and intent. “Totally agree with Gautam Gambhir. 124 was chaseable on this pitch. There was no question about it,” Sunil Gavaskar said. “A lot of people are talking about what the pitch was doing, but if you had a look at what Simon Harmer was doing in an over, how many of his deliveries were turning? He was mixing it up really well. He bowled straight and got the odd one to turn,” he added.
“So, it was not a vicious turning pitch. It was a pitch on which you needed to bat as if you were playing a five-day Test, not a 50-over match or a Twenty20 where, after three dot balls, you try to play a break-out-of-jail shot. That’s the issue. One hundred and twenty-four should have been chased with at least five wickets in hand with the kind of batting line-up India had,” he further added.
While the Indian team will look to keep these talks aside and respond strongly in the second Test, scheduled to be played from November 22 to 26 at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati.
