Sitanshu Kotak with Gautam Gambhir - (Source: AFP)
India will lock horns against South Africa for the 2nd and final Test match of the series on Saturday, November 22, at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati. It is a do-or-die game for the hosts after an embarrassing defeat in the first Test.
It was a low-scoring thriller where India failed to chase down 124 runs at Eden Gardens, drawing a lot of criticism. Notably, the match ended in just three days, and the curator also faced a lot of flak because of the deteriorating nature of the surface in Kolkata.
However, Gautam Gambhir defended the curator and, in his post-match press conference, the former India opener defended the pitch and stated that it was exactly the pitch that India had demanded.
Kotak puts blame on Eden Gardens' pitch curator
In the latest events, India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak has made some explosive remarks and has thrown the Eden Gardens pitch curator under the bus after recent criticism.
"See, in the last match, Gautam said that he took all the blame on himself. He said that he took the blame because he felt that he should not blame 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 was 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, even the curators did not want it. I am telling you the truth. No one wanted it to be like this," remarked Kotak as quoted by Cricbuzz.
Kotak further defended Gautam Gambhir and remarked that it is an agenda going against the head coach and it should be the batters and fielders who should be under the scanner.
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