But instead of making snap judgements, former India captain and CAB president Sourav Ganguly has rejected calls to fire the coach and instead called for more time, more preparation, and better surfaces. There has been a great deal of criticism directed at head coach Gautam Gambhir following India’s unexpected 30-run loss to South Africa in the first Test match at Eden Gardens. India’s collapse to 93 in a chase of 124 has drawn more attention, particularly as this is the seventh Test defeat under Gambhir’s leadership.
The defeat in Kolkata revealed persistent problems with India’s home Test strategy, like as their over-reliance on spin-friendly surfaces and their subpar batting on rank turners. Nine out of 18 Test matches have been lost by India under Gambhir, including four at home and a 3-0 thumping by New Zealand the previous season.
Questions were also raised after the loss regarding the controversial Eden Gardens pitch, which had taken a drastic change from Day 1. Sourav Ganguly explained that Gambhir himself verified that the wicket was prepared by the curators designated by the BCCI in response to requests from the team management.
Sourav Ganguly silenced the mounting demands for Gambhir’s dismissal.
“No, no, there isn’t a chance that Gautam Gambhir will be fired at this point, but I believe that the team should resolve to work hard to win Test matches because it’s much more difficult on flat pitches because the opposition will pad and each team will score a lot of runs in the first innings. Surprisingly, you’ll notice how the game shifts rapidly on days four and five in India,” he told India Today.
Just a shift in perspective: Sourav Ganguly
The former emphasised that India needs to trust its bowling depth and not worrying so much about severe turners. He cited the outstanding results India had in England as evidence that Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill could lead the team effectively on suitable Test grounds.
As a result, they must exercise patience. They have the bowling attack to take 20 wickets, as demonstrated at the Oval on the final day and in Edgbaston throughout that series (against England), so they can do it as well, as I mentioned. When the ball ages in India, swing becomes important. Thus, he continued, “it’s only a shift in perspective.
Pitch preparation was another aspect of the Kolkata Test that attracted interest. Despite acknowledging that the pitch was not the best, Sourav Ganguly emphasised that the CAB had little influence over the final phases because the BCCI curators took over four days prior to the game. The pitch was prepared in accordance with the team management’s request, he stated.
Additionally, Shubman as captain and Gautam as coach both excelled in England on strong batting grounds. Furthermore, I am convinced that they can succeed in India as well,” Sourav Ganguly said.
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