The pitch at Eden Gardens, Kolkata is being criticised for being too bowler-friendly, not providing the balance between bat and ball. Most batters struggled as 15 wickets fell on Day 2. As the third Test is all set to be wrapped up within three days, even with play ending early due to bad light. India’s legendary spinner Harbhajan Singh went on to say "RIP Test cricket". He feels that even the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli would have found it hard to survive on this track. Amidst criticism, Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and former India captain Sourav Ganguly defended pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee. Ganguly said that the Indian camp asked for a track like this.
“The pitch is what the Indian camp wanted. This is what happens when you don’t water the pitch for four days. Curator Sujan Mukherjee can’t be blamed," Sourav Ganguly told News18 Bangla.
Ganguly's statement comes after the curator had said a week earlier that head coach Gautam Gambhir and the team management have not asked for a rank turner. Also, Ganguly had said the same on November 10, a few days ahead of the Test series opener.
“They haven’t asked for it yet, so I can’t answer that question. It looks like a very good one," Ganguly had told PTI on when asked about whether there have been a few instructions about the pitch from team management.
Bavuma fights back
Meanwhile, South Africa have set India a tricky target of 124 on Day 3. South Africa captain Temba Bavuma played a gritty knock of 55 not out to give his side something to defend. Indian spinners were not effective. Later, Jasprit Bumrah cleaned up Corbin Bosch whereas Mohammed Siraj struck twice to mop up the tail.
In India's first innings, opener KL Rahul was the top run-scorer. He scored 39 runs from 119 deliveries. Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadja scored 27 each. India were bowled out for 189.