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India’s legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar has hit out at those blaming the pitch at Eden Gardens and its curator for 30-run defeat to South Africa. Gavaskar lauded South Africa for adapting well and slammed the old-media, former England captain Michael Vaughan for criticising the pitch because 15 wickets fell on Day 2 of the series opener.
“When they (South Africa) performed well and earned valuable points, the old-power media complained that they had not beaten top teams to reach the WTC final. This was rich, given that those very teams have failed to beat these so-called lesser opponents on several tours there. All that they have done is moan and whinge about the pitches and conditions every time they have lost,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportsar about the reigning World Test Championship (WTC) champions.
“Even for this Test match at the Eden Gardens, one of Ben Stokes’s has-beens has got vocal about the pitch simply because 15 wickets fell on day two. I have been a has-been longer than this has-been, but I can say with conviction that the pitch was tough, not impossible to bat on,” he added.
Gavaskar reserves high praise for Bavuma
Gavaskar lauded South Africa captain Temba Bavuma, the only half-centurion of the Kolkata Test. Bavuma remained unbeaten for 55 in South Africa’s second innings, helping his side set a stiff target of 124.
“Temba Bavuma showed that with his short back-lift and soft hands, keeping his bat speed just slow enough so that even if the ball took the edge, it would not carry to the close-in fielder. He also showed admirable patience and great temperament, even when the ball went past the outside edge. In essence, it was proper Test match batting and not what modern batters do the moment they find it is not a flat pitch and the ball is doing something off it,” Gavaskar observed.
“They think that going for the big shots will get them out of trouble. If anything, it gets them back in the pavilion. There are far too many who will tell them that there will be a delivery with their wicket on it, so better to go down trying to play big shots than fight it out with technique and temperament. They forget that red-ball behaviour differs from white-ball cricket, and that playing proper cricketing shots is the better option. They also overlook that Test cricket gives you the time to leave deliveries, unlike limited-overs cricket, where every ball counts,” he further wrote.
Gavaskar also wants the selectors to look for players who have scored heaps of runs in domestic cricket, the batters who are used to playing in conditions where the ball spins and keeps low.
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