NEW DELHI: India’s defeat to South Africa in the first Test has triggered a fierce argument over the Eden Gardens surface, especially after Sourav Ganguly revealed how early the pitch was taken out of local hands.
Ganguly made it clear that he had no influence over how the pitch was prepared. “No, no, I do not get involved at all,” he told India Today, stressing that the decisions were made elsewhere.
He then offered the detail that has now become the centre of the storm. “Curators from the BCCI come in and take charge of the wickets four days before the Test,” he said, suggesting that the process is fully controlled at the board level.
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He explained that Eden’s long serving curator, Sujan Mukherjee, remained part of the process but only within the limits set by the team management.
“The requests come from the team and you simply follow them,” Ganguly said, highlighting how the final shape of the wicket depends on what the Indian camp asks for.
Ganguly Says Pitch Was Not Good Enough
The former India captain did not try to defend the surface. He admitted openly that the wicket did not match the standard a Test deserves. “It was not the greatest, I have to admit that completely,” Ganguly said. He added that both the top order and middle order “deserve a much better cricketing surface” than what they faced at Eden Gardens.
Sujan Mukherjee echoed the same sentiment and clarified that he only carried out the instructions handed to him. “Sometimes it really goes beyond our control,” he said. “We try to meet whatever the coach and captain want, and that is exactly what we did.”
He also reminded that Gautam Gambhir had already acknowledged that the team received the surface they had asked for. “He wanted that sort of pitch and we prepared that sort of pitch,” Mukherjee said.
