As India failed to chase down the target of 124 at Eden Gardens, the pitch has become the centre of controversy. While head coach Gautam Gambhir says that it was the exact pitch they asked for, it has raised questions for not providing balance between bat and ball. The batters found it tough on a pitch which had variable bounce and turn. As India have not been able to use home advantage in Gambhir’s tenure as head coach, former opener-turned-commentator Wasim Jaffer feels that the pitches from 2016-17 need to be revisited when Virat Kohli was captain.
India have not been dominant at home like they used to. Last year, they faced an embarrassing cleansweep at the hands of Tom Latham. Now, South Africa have won a Test on Indian soil for the first time in 15 years. Jaffer feels that India haven’t learned the lesson after the New Zealand series loss and repeating their mistakes.
“Looks like we haven’t learned our lesson from NZ series loss. The gap between our spinners and opposition spinners reduces on pitches like this. We need to go back to classic Indian pitches, like the ones in 2016-17 season when Virat was captain and Eng and NZ toured,” wrote Jaffer on his X account.
Gambhir lauded pitch curator
But Gambhir feels that it is the batters who lack application and temperament to deal with the tough challenge posed by spinners. In addition, he lauded the pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee for being cooperative and preparing a surface Indian camp demanded.
Gill-less India struggle
Not just Indian spinners but pacers got much help from the Kolkata track. The top-scorer for India in the Test in an innings turned out to be KL Rahul who scored 39 runs from 119 deliveries. The absence of Shubman Gill due to neck injury weighed heavy on Indian lineup as Simon Harmer preyed on them. Gill has been discharged from the hospital but is still doubtful for the second Test.
It will be interesting to see if Gambhir wants the curator at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati to prepare a similar pitch or a more classical pitch from Kohli’s era.