India’s surprising 30-run defeat to South Africa in the first Test at Eden Gardens has triggered a huge amount of criticism of head coach Gautam Gambhir. With India collapsing to 93 in a chase of 124, the scrutiny has increased, especially because this is the ninth Test loss under Gambhir’s stint. However, former India captain and CAB president Sourav Ganguly has rejected suggestions of sacking the coach, instead asking for patience, better planning, and improved surfaces, rather than reactionary
decisions.
The loss in Kolkata exposed constant issues in India’s Test approach at home, including poor batting on rank turners and over-reliance on spin-friendly surfaces. Under Gambhir, India has lost nine of 18 Tests, including four at home and a 3-0 whitewash to New Zealand last year.
Following the defeat, questions were also raised about the contentious Eden Gardens pitch that turned sharply from Day 1. Ganguly clarified that the BCCI-appointed curators prepared the wicket after receiving requests from the team management, something Gambhir himself confirmed. Ganguly quashed the growing calls to remove Gambhir.
“No, no, there's no question of sacking out of Gautam Gambhir at this stage, but I think as a team, they need to get together and say to themselves that we will work hard to win Test matches because on flat pitches, it's a lot harder because the opposition will pad, there'll be big runs scored on the first innings of each team. And in India, surprisingly, you'll see how the game changes quickly on day four, day five," he told India Today.
It's just a mindset change: Sourav Ganguly
The former stressed that India must move away from obsessing over extreme turners and instead trust their bowling depth. He pointed to India’s impressive performances in England as proof that Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill can guide the team well on proper Test surfaces.
“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," he added.
The Kolkata Test also grabbed attention for pitch preparation. While Ganguly admitted that the wicket was not the greatest, but stressed that the CAB had no control in the final stages as the BCCI curators took over four days before the match. He said that the pitch was prepared according to the team management’s request.
“And you know, 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," Ganguly concluded.
