NEW DELHI: Former Indian batter Kris Srikkanth expressed his frustration over the Eden Gardens pitch after India's batting collapsed to 93 while chasing 124 in the first Test against South Africa. The debate over pitch conditions has intensified, with Srikkanth claiming that he would have taken a wicket had he bowled on this surface.
Eyebrows were raised as neither team managed to cross the 200-run mark, and the match concluded inside three days.
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"The wicket was a bad wicket. Gambhir said after the match that there were no demons in the wicket but come on, it was a horrible wicket. It was not a Test match wicket. If the game ends in 2.5 days, there's clearly something wrong with the wicket," Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
"On these turning tracks, India have been on the backfoot. Look at the scores, 159, 189, 153, 93. Obviously, there's something wrong with the wicket. First day, Bumrah bowled an absolute snorter to (Aidan) Markram that nearly went above his head. It's up and down for the quicks, it's turning square for the spinners. On this surface, even I would have taken wickets if I had bowled. Bowling stump-to-stump would have done the trick," he added.
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Srikkanth also expressed his dissatisfaction with India's use of Washington Sundar, noting that the team played four spinners but gave the all-rounder just a single over across both innings. While he had no issue with Sundar being part of the playing XI, the former India batter was critical of how sparingly he was utilised.
"They played 4 spinners and one spinner (Sundar) didn't even bowl. In the second innings he didn't bowl a single ball. I don't understand the logic behind selecting 4 spinners. My problem is not with selecting Washington and playing him at No.3, but not giving him any bowling whatsoever," he concluded.
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.
