Sourav Ganguly, the president of Cricket Association of Bengal, has defended the Eden Gardens surface amid recent criticism. Ganguly claimed that the pitch was designed as per the Indian team's demands. 26 wickets fell on the first two days of the IND vs SA 1st Test, with the match heading to a Day 3 end.
"The pitch is what the Indian camp wanted. This is what happens when you don’t water the pitch for four days. Curator Sujan Mukherjee can’t be blamed," Ganguly told News18 Bangla.
The Eden Gardens surface has come under criticism given the events of the IND vs SA 1st Test. One of the great venues in Indian cricket, the Kolkata surface offered no chance of run scoring with bowlers making merry. There was uneven pace and bounce, while spinners could turn the ball square from Day 2.
Both India and South Africa failed to even post more than 200 in their innings. Temba Bavuma was the only player to score a half-century until Lunch on Day 3. The Proteas skipper's half-century and his partnership with Corbin Bosch was perhaps why the game extended beyond Lunch. India themselves struggled, mustering only a 30-run lead, before losing both openers for the score of 1.
South Africa were bowled out for 159 in their first innings, undone by sharp turn, uneven bounce, and relentless pressure from India’s bowlers. India, however, failed to capitalize, collapsing for 189 as both pace and spin extracted wicked movement off the surface. By stumps on Day 2, South Africa were tottering again at 93/7. They added 60 more on Day 3, with the first session seeing the fall of 3 wickets, all to pace.
“To be honest with you, even we didn’t expect a wicket to deteriorate so quickly… we all thought when we watched that first couple of hours that it was a good wicket, so it did deteriorate quite quickly, which was unexpected,” Morkel told reporters at Stumps on Day 2.
