Former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and current Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Sourav Ganguly has shared an important piece of advice with India national cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Sourav Ganguly advised Gautam Gambhir that if he wants results to go in his favour, he should play home Test matches on good pitches and move away from the idea of spin-friendly tracks.
Play on good wickets. I hope Gautam Gambhir is listening – Sourav Ganguly
The pitch of Eden Gardens, Kolkata became the biggest topic of discussion during the first Test match of the two-match series between India and South Africa.
India prepared a spin-friendly track for the match, but this strategy backfired and they suffered a disastrous 30-run defeat in the game.
It was a nightmare pitch to bat on and the batsmen of both the teams had to have a very bad time in the middle. Batting first, South Africa scored 159 runs on the board and in reply India scored 189 runs.
Then, the Proteas scored 153 runs in their second innings, setting a target of 124 runs for India and achieved a spectacular victory by bowling out the opposition for 93 runs.
Speaking after the match, CAB President Sourav Ganguly said that under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir, the Indian team should start playing strictly on good pitches.
“Play on a good wicket. I hope Gautam Gambhir is listening,” Ganguly was quoted as saying by NDTV.
As a coach, he has performed well for India – Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Ganguly heaped praise on Gautam Gambhir and said he has had a successful stint as head coach before stressing on the importance of playing on good surfaces.
“I have a lot of time for him. A lot of respect. He is competitive. He has done well for India as a coach. But he has to play on good wickets. Because he has Bumrah, he has Siraj, he has Shami, he has Kuldeep, he has Jadeja.”
It is noteworthy that Gautam Gambhir was quite frank in the press conference after the match and he did not blame the pitch for the defeat. He said that they got the track they asked for and they lost the match due to the failure of the batsmen.
They need to take wickets out of the game – Sourav Ganguly
Meanwhile, Ganguly further said that Gautam Gambhir should ensure that such tracks are made where batsmen are able to score 350-400 runs and trust his players to win the match in five days.
“They need to take wickets out of the game. Because if their batsmen are not scoring 350-400 runs, they will not be able to win Test matches. That’s why they won in England – because their batsmen put runs on the board.”
“They have to play on good wickets. And trust their people. And win Test matches in 5 days. Not 3 days.”
Also read: ‘India A can beat South Africa’: Cheteshwar Pujara attacks Gautam Gambhir after Kolkata Test defeat
