‘Team Ordered Dry Pitch’: Ganguly Shifts Eden Gardens Blame to Gambhir
India demanded unwatered turf, sparking Test's early collapse.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has sensationally shifted blame for the Eden Gardens pitch fiasco onto head coach Gautam Gambhir and the Indian team management, revealing the surface was deliberately prepared to their exact specifications. The Kolkata Test is hurtling toward a sub-three-day finish, with no innings crossing 200, but Ganguly insists curator Sujan Mukherjee followed orders—not to water the pitch for four days prior to the match, causing rapid deterioration and unpredictable bounce.
"This is what the Indian camp wanted. When you don’t water the pitch for four days, this is what happens. You can’t blame the curator," Ganguly told News18 Bangla. The revelation undercuts growing criticism of Mukherjee and exposes internal strategy: India gambled on a turning, crumbling track to exploit South Africa’s struggles against spin, only for their own batsmen to falter twice on the same treacherous surface.
Former wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik corroborated Ganguly’s claim, noting the overnight decision to skip watering directly led to early fracturing. “That’s why it broke up so quickly,” he said during commentary. South Africa’s batting coach Ashwell Prince voiced frustration, saying the randomness—balls shooting or staying low—eroded shot-making confidence, while ex-Proteas pacer Vernon Philander urged focus on player adaptation over pitch complaints.
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The controversy has reignited fears over Test cricket’s survival in India, with Harbhajan Singh warning that such “unplayable” surfaces could kill the format. “We’ll murder Test cricket ourselves if we keep producing this,” he posted on X. With the ICC likely to slap a “poor” rating and demerit points on Eden Gardens, the venue risks suspension from hosting international matches.
As India chase a modest 124 in the fourth innings—currently reeling at 21/2—the Gambhir-Ganguly disclosure raises tough questions: did India’s high-risk pitch demand backfire, or is this aggressive home strategy here to stay? For now, the Eden drama proves one thing—when captains and coaches dictate conditions, curators become scapegoats in cricket’s oldest format.
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