South Africa won the first Test by 30 runs.
The Indian Test cricket juggernaut seems to be going downhill, at home. After their series whitewash from the hands of New Zealand in 2024, the hosts have once again lost a Test match at home in Kolkata, going down to South Africa by 30 runs. Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin opined on the pitch, and the reason which propelled the Proteas towards glory in the first Test.
That being said, there was a fair bit of controversy around the pitch at Eden Gardens in the days leading up to the Test. There were rumours of the Indian management not being happy about the quality of the pitch. However, those rumours were put to rest by the Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir, who after the match expressed that it was exactly the pitch that the Indians had asked for.
The former off-spinner, on his YouTube channel Ash ki Baat, contradicted the statement made by Gautam Gambhir, referring to the pitch as ‘underprepared’. Ashwin stated that the pitch used in Kolkata was highly underprepared to host a team that held a lot of quality like the Proteas. There was grass on the wicket in the lead up too the Test, but it was eventually scrubbed off, which led to horizontal cracks.
Ashwin further stressed on the difference between a turner and a bad wicket, stating that the Eden Gardens one was more of the latter. The roots of the grass were scrubbed off before the game, which led to horizontal cracks on the pitch. Hence, the wicket opened up resulting in uneven bounce which the batters could not trust.
“This was not a turner. This was a bad wicket. It is extremely difficult to make a turner everywhere in India due to the variety of surfaces and moisture content. Eastern parts of the country are not ideal for turning wickets”, narrated Ravichandran Ashwin on his YouTube channel.
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Though South Africa winning a Test match in India was not the most favourable outcome in terms of the result of the match, the visitors clearly outplayed the Indians in every department. Temba Bavuma led from the front beautifully, putting a display of exemplary batting on the wicket. The way he applied himself on the wicket highlighted his mental strength.
On the other hand, Ravichandran Ashwin spoke about the Indian batting unit needing more experience in order to play on wickets like these. Additionally, he also stressed that the BCCI should seriously consider the suggestion of making five Test centres in India, where the hosts have an advantage of knowing how the pitches will react.
Ashwin also mentioned that other teams where India tours to are very smart about the selection of the venues to play their games against India. They do not prepare pitches where there is turn, in order to take the advantage away from the Indians. However, foreign sides have gotten a lot better in terms of facing spin bowling than the Indians, in the last few years.
“The problem is that our Test centres are on rotation. This team currently is not ready to play on wickets like the one provided at Eden Gardens. The matches against South Africa should have been played in Ahmedabad and Delhi”, said Ravichandran Ashwin on the selection of venues.
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