India has succumbed to South Africa in Kolkata. Was it Shubman Gill’s injury or poor performance by the Indian batters that led to defeat? Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh thinks it’s neither. After the second day’s play, the great spinner made a big statement regarding the Eden Gardens pitch.
Harbhajan Singh lambasts Kolkata pitch
Harbhajan compared the surface for the India vs South Africa 1st Test to the pitches in England, when India toured them earlier in the year. Those games went to the fifth day more often than not. Here, the game won’t even last two and a half days. The former off-spinner lamented such pitches and stated that Test cricket will die in India if this continues to happen.
“I was so happy that people had gathered there to watch Test cricket. But the way the pitch behaved, South Africa won the toss and were all out for 159. After that, I expected India to play better, but India also did not bat that well. India was all out for 189. A 30-run lead looked like a 300-run lead in the match, and now South Africa is with them at 93. It has been two days, and in two days, the result looks clear as to which way the game is going. Rest in Peace, Test cricket,” Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.
“Recently, India played Test cricket in England. Both teams played brilliantly. Everyone lauded them. The kind of pitches they played on and the way they fought and won matches there shows how good Test cricket is. This is Test cricket. But here, the pitch is so terrible that no matter where you bowl, the batter does not know about its spin and does not know what to do,” he added.
Even the great Tendulkar wouldn’t have survived
Harbhajan added that such was the pitch that batters had no chance. However good your technique was irrelevant on a surface like this because it was spinning big and there was uneven bounce as well. The rough was already created by the second day, and the pitch was cracking. Bhajji added that greats like Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli would have been as listless as the Indian batters that played because you can’t get past such wickets.
No matter how good your technique is, whether it is the great Tendulkar or Virat, I do not think they would have survived on such a surface because one delivery would fly out of nowhere, while the other would stay low and spin. So, it is not about ability anymore. It is just the pitch that is working. And this has been happening for years. We had never seen such conditions before. In my view, it is not going right; it is pathetic and utter nonsense. A mockery has been made out of Test cricket,” he added.
