India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir on Sunday backed Eden Gardens’ under-fire curator while lamenting his batters’ inability to “absorb pressure” and find a way to score runs on the challenging surface in the opening Test against South Africa.
“It was not an unplayable wicket, there were no demons,” Gambhir said at the post-match media interaction. “If you are willing to put your head down and if you have a solid defense, if you have a temperament, you can definitely score runs,” he said.
The match saw 38 wickets (as Shubman Gill was retired hurt) fall in just eight sessions and out of them the pacers had a share of 16, while spinners accounted for 22.
“We keep talking about turning track, but if you look at the 40 wickets, majority of the wickets went to seamers,” Gambhir said in his assessment. “So, if you are out on the turning track or seamers. I don’t think it was a tough wicket. It was a wicket where your technique can be judged, your mental toughness can be challenged, and more important than that is your temperament.
Ganguly, meanwhile, said the Eden pitch was “not the best Test wicket” but India should have chased down the target of 124.
“There is no controversy. It was not the best Test wicket, but unfortunately India lost. They still should have got 120. It wasn’t the greatest Test pitch. Gambhir said they wanted such a pitch and that they themselves instructed the curator,” Ganguly told reporters after the match.
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