NEW DELHI: The pitch controversy that erupted after India's shocking 30-run defeat to South Africa - while chasing just 124 - has sparked a bigger debate: are young captain Shubman Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir aligned on what India's home conditions should look like?

The collapse, India's lowest unsuccessful chase at home, has exposed deeper cracks than what a dry, turning Eden Gardens surface can hide.

Only a month ago, on the eve of the West Indies Test in Ahmedabad, Gill had firmly stated that the team had moved away from the old approach of preparing "rank turners" for home matches.

'If you lose at home, something is wrong': Cheteshwar Pujara tears into Team India

"...we would be looking to play on wickets that offer both to the batsmen and to the bowlers," Gill had said, outlining a vision of balanced surfaces.

Despite Gill's stance, India walked into the series against the defending World Test champions on a pitch completely contrary to what their captain had endorsed.

The Eden Gardens surface had reportedly gone more than a week without watering and was kept under covers every evening. The outcome was a dry, crumbly track that broke apart from the very first session. The match wrapped up in just eight sessions, producing 38 wickets - 22 to spinners and 16 to pacers.

So while the team claimed to have moved away from rank turners, the conditions at Eden told a very different story. Gautam Gambhir, however, remained unapologetic, openly stating that the pitch was exactly what the team management had asked for.

'Don't play on rank turners if you can't handle spin': Ashwin's blunt message to India batters

"If you don't play well this is what happens. There were no demons in the wicket," he asserted.

Ask Aiden Markram, who was beaten by a Jasprit Bumrah delivery that shot up from the off-stump line in the very first hour, or KL Rahul, who fell to a Marco Jansen ball that kicked viciously in the fourth innings - and they would certainly disagree.

Yet Gambhir maintained that it was the seamers who caused most of the trouble.

"Ultimately, if we had won this Test match, you wouldn't even be talking about this pitch," he said in his usual combative style.

The messaging gap, however, is evident. Gill had asked for balance. The coach wanted exactly what transpired. The captain didn't even get to play owing to neck spasms that needed hospitalisation, putting him in doubt for the second Test in Guwahati from November 22.

Road to WTC 2027 Final: Here’s how India can still make it to the grand stage

Captain ruled out, batters exposed

Gill took no part beyond day 1 owing to the neck spasm sustained while playing a slog-sweep boundary off Simon Harmer. In his absence, Indian batting displayed neither discipline nor adaptability.

India have now lost four of their last six Tests at home -- a trend that has shred the aura of invincibility that the team enjoyed in its backyard.

Under Gambhir, India have eight wins from 18 Tests -- four of them have come against lowly Bangladesh and West Indies.

The script here resembled India's 0-3 humiliation against New Zealand at home last year, a series in which Ajaz Patel (11 in Mumbai), Mitchell Santner (13 in Pune) exposed the side's frailties on turning tracks.

That series derailed India's World Test Championship run, and the Eden defeat now sits in the same bracket.

This loss also flipped India's WTC standings. South Africa climbed to third with two wins in three; India dropped to fourth with just two wins in eight Tests in the new cycle.

Pitch fixation

From the moment India landed in Kolkata on Tuesday, the focus was obsessively on the pitch. Meetings with curator Sujan Mukherjee became frequent. Historically rich in memorable Tests -- including the iconic 2001 Laxman-Dravid miracle -- Eden hosted a surface that drew even Harbhajan Singh's ire.

"They have completely destroyed Test cricket. RIP Test cricket," Harbhajan said.

Cheteshwar Pujara dismissed talk of transition as excuse-making.

"Losing at home cannot be accepted, transition or not," he said.

India had the Test in their pocket at stumps on day two. South Africa were 93/7, effectively 63 ahead, with Temba Bavuma on 29 (78 balls) and debutant Corbin Bosch on 1.

Conditions on a Kolkata morning typically favour seam with cool breeze from the Ganges. Common sense demanded that Bumrah start at the Club House End, where he took a first-innings five-for.

Instead, he was introduced as late as the ninth over from the other end and by then Bosch looked settled, Bavuma had grown roots, and the lead stretched past the psychological 100-run mark.

Bavuma's unbeaten 55 eventually was the difference.

Indian batting implosion

This defeat is not an isolated collapse.

It mirrors tactical confusion, and over-curated pitches, without batting depth to sustain it.

After Guwahati -- where they now cannot win the series regardless of result -- India will not play at home till the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in January 2027.

Before that, they tour Sri Lanka (August) and New Zealand (October next year) and their task is cut out in the WTC campaign now.

(With PTI Inputs)