India have lost four out of their last six Tests at home.
For a side that once asserted their Test dominance at home, losing four matches out of the last six does not sit well. Unfortunately, such is the situation for the Indian cricket team under Gautam Gambhir. After their whitewash from the hands of New Zealand in 2024, the Indian team faced a humiliating defeat against South Africa in the first Test in Kolkata.
Apart from India’s performance in the Test match, there has been one aspect which has sparked huge discussions all over social media. The pitch that was used for the contest is driving all sorts of debates after the Indian head coach expressed that it was exactly the kind of wicket that the hosts had asked for. That being said, many fans questioned the team’s ability to play spin with poise.
The selection and preference of pitches is where Gautam Gambhir has not sat well in the minds of the fans and many experts, who believe that the Indians cannot be dishing out such pitches which reduce the quality between the two sides even before the match begins. Former off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on his YouTube channel also mentioned that the pitch was not a turner, and was underprepared.
However, India legend Sunil Gavaskar has come to the aid of head coach Gautam Gambhir, validating his comments. Gambhir stated that the pitch did not have any demons in it, and that the Indians should have batted better and applied themselves. The 1983 World Cup winning opener did second those thoughts, stating that the Indians could have shown better temperament under pressure.
“Totally agree with Gautam Gambhir. 124 was chaseable on this pitch. There was no question about it. One hundred and twenty-four should have been chased with at least five wickets in hand with the kind of batting line-up India had”, said Sunil Gavaskar in an interview.
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The Indian head coach is receiving a lot of slack for the team selection since quite a while now. Gautam Gambhir decided to drop Sai Sudharsan in the first Test against South Africa and send Washington Sundar at No.3. The all-rounder from Tamil Nadu did a decent job with the bat. But the constant chopping and changing of the playing XIs can put players under unnecessary pressure.
That being said, Gambhir was very firm in his statements after the match in the press conference. The 2011 World Cup winning member stated that the batters who applied themselves got runs in the match. Gambhir gave an example of Temba Bavuma who scored a fifty in the second innings, which was an outstanding display of defensive batting on the pitch which was doing a lot.
The Indian head coach denied to accept the fact that there was something wrong with the pitch, or that the wicket was underprepared. He pointed out that the hosts lost the match due to the batters’ poor application on a wicket which needed a lot more patience and temperament from the batters. Whether India should be providing visitors with such pitches would be an entire different discussion.
“People are calling it a spinning pitch. It was nothing vicious. Poor technique and poor temperament have landed us in this situation. The Indian batters had the example of Temba Bavuma. You may forget what happened the previous day, but Bavuma had played an innings of exceptional character just hours earlier”, concluded Sunil Gavaskar.
The teams will now fly to Guwahati for the second Test, a venue which does add very little to the home advantage that the Indians have got. It has been a long time since the team last played a game at the venue and getting adjusted to the conditions in order to know the pitch would be an uphill task. Not to forget that the hosts might be without Shubman Gill!
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