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“Gambhir’s pitch defence a dig at Indian players…”: ABD calls out coach after Eden Gardens collapse

Aakash Saini

Gautam Gambhir and AB de Villiers [Source: @its_bl3ze, @CricCrazyJohns/x]Gautam Gambhir and AB de Villiers [Source: @its_bl3ze, @CricCrazyJohns/x]

Team India slumped to a humiliating 30-run defeat on Day 3 of the first Test on a controversial Eden Gardens surface against South Africa. Apart from going 0-1 down in the two-match Test series, the outcome also sparked a wave of criticism among Indian fans and cricket experts, with several of them questioning the apparent inability of Indian players in combating spin off late.

Ex-players like Anil Kumble and Cheteshwar Pujara even blamed the spin-friendly nature of the Eden Gardens pitch, and urged the Indian team management to play on good sporting surfaces. Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir, however, defended the Eden Gardens pitch curator by saying that he churned out “exactly the surface Indian team” wanted.

AB de Villiers trolls Indian head coach

Former South Africa captain and RCB Hall of Famer AB de Villiers believes that Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir was taking a dig at his team by defending the Eden Gardens playing surface. Taking to his YouTube channel, Villiers said that Gambhir may well have been indirectly criticising the players for their inability in tackling spin at the venue.

He said:

“He barely had time to blink before the Test was over. He highlighted Gambhir’s words about the wicket being exactly what India wanted and wondered if the coach was having a go at the players, saying ‘This what we prepared, why didn’t we perform?”

In a Test match that lasted just two-and-a-half days, hosts India suffered a 30-run larruping in a low-scoring thriller. South African spinner Simon Harmer picked up two four-fers in the match, including figures of 4-21 in the decisive innings to keep India down to just 93 in a chase of 124.

Trailing 0-1 in the series, Gautam Gambhir-helmed India will now face South Africa in the second Test in Guwahati from November 22 onwards.