The Indian team suffered a historic loss to the Proteas in the IND vs SA 1st Test at Eden Gardens after the visitors won their first Test in 15 years in the subcontinent. The rank turner at Kolkata became the centre of conversation as Indian batting once again struggled against spin with South African spinner Simon Harmer running through the Indian attack, taking four wickets in each Indian innings to finish with a match-haul of eight scalps.
Following the loss, the Indian management faced heavy backlash, given India failed to win the contest despite asking for spinning conditions. Incidentally, in the last one year, India has lost four out of the six home Tests played, which begs the question of whether India should shift from making spinning tracks.
When quizzed on the same, Gambhir defended the pitch and instead blamed the batters for their lack of skills.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, the Indian coach said, “There were no demons in this wicket. It wasn’t unplayable. If we keep talking about the wicket, the majority of the wickets were by the seamers. This was a pitch where your technique, mental toughness and temparement was tested.”
He added, “Bavuma, Axar and Washington scored runs. Those who had good defence scored runs. You should know how to play when the ball turns. This is what we asked for and the curator was supportive. This is exactly the pitch we were looking for.”
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Speaking about the game, India squandered an easy opportunity to win the contest after failing to chase down a trivial target of 124 runs. With skipper Shubman Gill ruled out of the match due to neck injury, India batted with 9 wickets in the second innings but only four batters could score in double digits, as the hosts were bundled out for 93 and lost the encounter by 30 runs.
Earlier, the Proteas managed 159 in their first innings with Jasprit Bumrah shining with the ball with a fifer. India then took a slender lead of 30 runs before South Africa were restricted to 153 in their second innings, courtesy of Ravindra Jadeja’s four-wicket haul.
The IND vs SA 2nd Test is slated to be held from November 22 in Guwahati.
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