Eden Gardens pitch for 2nd India vs South Africa Test earns ‘satisfactory’ rating from ICC

The match at the Eden Gardens ended in three days, with South Africa beating India by 30 runs, thus recording their first Test victory in the country in 15 years. (BCCI Photo)

The pitch that was rolled out at the Eden Gardens for the second Test between India and South Africa has been given a rating of “Satisfactory” by the International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee for that game Richie Richardson. The rating comes close to the pitch for the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) between Australia and England being rated as unsatisfacrory by Jeff Crowe, who was the ICC match referee for that game.

The pitch at the Eden Gardens was largely deemed to be a turner by those who saw the match, with South Africa being all out for 159 and 153 and India for 189 and 93. However, India head coach Gautam Gambhir defended the surface. “There was no demon in this wicket. It was not an unplayable one,” Gambhir said after off-spinner Simon Harmer bowled South Africa to a 30-run victory in the series opener.

“This was not a typical turning track. Majority of the wickets were claimed by the seamers,” Gambhir said. “It was more of a test of your technique and mental toughness… Those who defended well scored runs. This is exactly what we wanted but when you don’t play well, this is what happens.”

On the other hand, Sitanshu Kotak, India’s batting coach and a member in Gambhir’s own staff, seemed to contradict the latter in a pre-match press conference ahead of the second Test.

“See, in the last match wicket, Gautam said that he took all the blame on himself. He said that he took the blame because he felt that he should not put the blame on the curators,” Kotak said.

“Now, what happened in the last match, after a day, it felt like it was crumbling. There was a little bit of soil [that came up after the ball pitched]. All of you can see that. That was not expected. Even if the spin was expected, it was after 3 days or on the third day in the evening. Sometimes, the weather, sometimes, even the curators did not want it. I am telling you the truth. No one wanted it to be like this.”