South African spinner Simon Harmer appealing for a wicket in Kolkata against India. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)The major talking point after South Africa’s victory over India in the first Test at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens has been the spin-friendly pitch, which heavily favoured the tweakers and led to a result by Tea on Day 3. The reigning World Test Champions proved their supremacy, handing India a shock 30-run defeat. While Indian coach Gautam Gambhir insisted the pitch held “no demons,” former South African pace great Dale Steyn strongly disagreed with that assessment.
“He said there weren’t demons in the pitch? I certainly saw quite a lot,” Steyn said on JioHotstar after the match.
“You know, as Anil was saying, some balls are spinning two feet past the bat, hitting the keeper on the shoulder. The next one is skidding through, hitting the pad, and you’re out. That’s pretty tough to bat on. When batters don’t have the option to score runs, the application of defense becomes the biggest key. That itself means batting is really difficult,” he added.
Steyn pointed to Washington Sundar and South African skipper Temba Bavuma as the most solid batters on display. However, he argued the pitch was so unpredictable that an unplayable delivery could have dismissed them at any moment, asserting the surface had demons “for sure.”
“The two who applied themselves best were Washington Sundar in the fourth innings and Temba Bavuma. Even they looked like they could have gotten out at any time; a ball had their number on it. But their defense was the most solid. This wicket certainly has demons in it, that’s for sure. Any Test match that finishes within three days has got some demons in it, for sure,” Steyn stated.
Earlier, as batters from both sides struggled, Coach Gambhir had defended the pitch, calling it challenging but playable.
“First of all, there were no demons in the wicket. This wasn’t an unplayable wicket. Temba Bavuma made runs, Axar made runs, Washington scored. The point is, on a turning track, if you see the stats, the majority of wickets were taken by seamers. If you have a decent technique, mental toughness, and, most importantly, the right temperament, you can make runs. If you grind and bat long enough, you can score. Players who defended well, like KL Rahul and Washington Sundar, they scored. This was not a pitch where you cannot make runs. We have played on tracks like these before,” Gambhir said.
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