Sunil Gavaskar agreed with Gautam Gambhir’s assessment that there were no demons on the Eden Gardens pitch and blasted the Indian batsmen for their horror show in the first Test against the South African national cricket team.
Completely agree with Gautam Gambhir. 124 was to chase – Sunil Gavaskar
The Kolkata Test match between India and South Africa became a hot topic of discussion among the fans due to the pitch produced for the match.
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The surface was extremely bowling-friendly as it turned from day one and had uneven bounce, making life hell for the batters. South Africa scored 159 and 153 in their two innings, while India scored 189 in the first innings and were given a target of 124 runs to chase.
However, India could not chase down the small total and were bowled out for 93, facing a humiliating 30-run defeat and 0-1 deficit in the series. The likes of Kris Srikkanth, Harbhajan Singh, Dale Steyn and Michael Vaughan blamed the pitch for India’s loss, but Gautam Gambhir instead slammed the batters and said there were no demons in the pitch.
Sunil Gavaskar agreed with Gautam Gambhir and said 124 should have been chased by the Indian batters at all costs.
“Totally agree with Gautam Gambhir. 124 was to be chased on this pitch. There was no doubt about that,” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today.
“A lot of people talk about what the pitch did, but if you look at what Simon Harmer did in an over, how many of his deliveries turned? He mixed it very well. He bowled straight and had the odd opportunity to turn,” he added.
I completely agree with Gautam Gambhir that there was nothing wrong with the pitch – Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar added that the Eden Gardens surface was not a vicious spinning pitch and only odd balls were spinning.
“So it wasn’t a cruel, spinning delivery. It was a delivery that you had to bat on as if you were playing a five-day Test, and not a 50-over match or a Twenty20 where, after three point balls, you’re trying to break out of jail. That’s the problem. A hundred and twenty-four should have been chased with at least five wickets in hand with the kind of batting line-up that India had,” he said.
“I completely agree with Gautam Gambhir that there was nothing wrong with the pitch. On day 3 the odd man out turned, that’s normal. How many deliveries from Maharaj were turned? How many of Jadeja’s or Axar were turned?”
The Indian batters had the example of Temba Bavuma – Sunil Gavaskar
The batting legend further said that the Indian batters showed poor technique and temperament which resulted in their loss.
“People call it a spinning throw. It was nothing malicious. Bad technique and bad temperament got us into this situation,” he said.
Sunil Gavaskar also praised Temba Bavuma, who was the only half-centurion in the innings, and said the Indian batters should have learned from him.
“The Indian batsmen were modeled on Temba Bavuma. You may forget what happened the previous day, but Bavuma had played an innings of exceptional character a few hours earlier. He batted with real temperament, technique and dedication. That should have at least been in the back of their minds,” Gavaskar said.
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