After India’s defeat in the first Test within three days in a low-scoring affair against South Africa in Kolkata on Sunday, Gautam Gambhir said in the press conference that the Eden Gardens pitch was exactly the kind the hosts wanted. The current India head coach’s comments to the media confused the former head coach Anil Kumble, who called for more sporting conditions, given the legacy of what the venue has been in Test cricket over many years.
“If you look back at the legacy of Eden Gardens, there have been so many Test matches that have been played. I’ve been coming here since I was an Under-19 kid and I’ve never had a pitch that behaved like this over the three days in a Test match,” Kumble said on JioHotstar after the match. “I did listen to what Gautam said, he did mention about the fact that the team wanted something like this. Then I’m a bit confused because I know this is a young side.”
The legendary legspinner also referred to the recent series away in England where all five Test matches went the distance and ended in a 2-2 draw. “When you want your young side to grow, which they did exceptionally well in England, on really tough conditions, good cricketing conditions, they fought really well, 2-all draw. Then when you come here, I’m sure they would have done exceptionally well in similar conditions. You need to give them the confidence to continue to score runs. The batterrs need to feel confident of scoring hundreds. For bowlers it needs to be challenging. The wickets will come. They are all skilful bowlers,” Kumble said.
In his press conference that was aired a few minutes before Kumble’s comments, Gambhir spoke about how pacers had as much success on this pitch too, putting the result down to temperament, adding that there were no demons in the pitch. “See how many wickets the pacers took,” Gambhir said. “I don’t think it was such a tough pitch. It is a pitch that challenged technique and temperament. Whoever defended well managed to score runs.”
FOLLOW: IND vs SA 1st Test Day 3 Highlights
Speaking specifically about the pitch, Gambhir explained: “The point is you should know how to play turn. This is what we asked for, and this is what we got. I thought the curator was very supportive, and I still believe that regardless of how the wicket was, 123 was chaseable. I felt that if you were willing to put your head down, and if you have a solid defence, if you have the temperament, you can definitely score and, it might not be a wicket, which is going to be very, very flambant where you can play those big shots, but if you’re willing to put your head down, definitely it’s a wicket where you can score. This is exactly the pitch we were looking for. This is exactly the pitch, and I feel that, as I just mentioned before that the curator was very helpful and this is exactly what we wanted and this is exactly what we got. When you don’t play well, this is what happens.”
Gambhir was also defiant when questioned about India’s tactics earlier on Day 3, and went to the extent of saying that had India won a lot of these questions wouldn’t have come up. Kumble took on that perspective as well in his analysis.
“If India had won, would we have raised so many objections to the pitch? Yes, we would have certainly asked, do you need this kind of a pitch for the team to win? We keep saying that. So I think it’s a matter of how you look at it because there’s been a legacy of playing at Eden Gardens, and then there’s a sort of constant chatter about Test cricket needs to be played in Test match centres, the regular centres. I mean, over three days, we had 110,000 people come and watch the game. So that’s what you want. You don’t want empty stands, and you want people to come and be a part of this exhibition. And I think Indian cricket certainly is at the level where they can compete on any surface, doesn’t really matter. There’s enough talent in the changing room,” Kumble said.
