NEW DELHI: Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh slammed the pitch used for the first Test against South Africa in Kolkata, calling it a "mockery of Test cricket." He argued that the surface reduced the contest to luck rather than skill, adding that even legends like Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli would have found it difficult to bat on such a wicket.

"Speaking on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan said, "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, which way the game is going. Rest in Peace, Test cricket."

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Harbhajan further highlighted the contrast with the recent India–England series in the UK, where the cricketing world praised both teams for a hard-fought 2-2 draw. All five Tests went into the final day, and the pitches offered a fair balance between bat and ball - something he felt was completely missing in the Kolkata Test.

"Recently, India played Test cricket in England. They both played brilliantly. Everyone lauded them. The kind of pitches they played on and the way they fought and won matches there, it 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," Harbhajan said.

Harbhajan called Kolkata pitch pathetic and said it's been happening too often in recent years, and argued that such pitches reduce Test cricket to a joke rather than a contest of skills.

"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 recently 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.