The disappointment at Eden Gardens has lingered among fans and former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has stepped in to support head coach Gautam Gambhir, urging everyone to focus on the real issue behind India’s 30-run loss to South Africa. Instead of blaming the surface, he believes the defeat came down to the Indian batters’ technique and temperament, especially in a chase that should never have felt threatening.
India had done the hard work early in the match. After dismissing South Africa for 159, they built a 30-run lead and then restricted the visitors to an even smaller total of 153 in their second innings on a pitch that offered turn but nothing out of the ordinary. With only 124 runs needed for victory, expectations were high, yet familiar struggles against spin resurfaced. Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj picked apart the batting order, exposing the hesitation and impatience that Sunil Gavaskar feels cost India the match.
While some pointed fingers at the surface, drawing parallels to last year’s 3-0 loss to New Zealand where turning pitches seemingly backfired, Gambhir firmly stated that this was exactly the kind of wicket India had requested. The coach insisted the conditions were not the problem, the batting was.
Sunil Gavaskar echoed this view, noting that Simon Harmer’s success came not from unplayable turn but clever variation, including deliveries that went straight on. He stressed that the pitch was far from dangerous and that the chase required a patient, Test-match approach rather than the urgency of limited-overs cricket. According to him, a target of 124 should have been achieved comfortably, with around 5 wickets to spare, given India’s experienced lineup.
Sunil Gavaskar also pushed back on claims that the pitch was excessively spin-friendly. He highlighted that only the occasional ball turned sharply and that this was typical for a third-day surface. He questioned why, if the pitch was so extreme, spinners from both the sides weren’t consistently getting big turn. To him, the answer was clear — India fell short because of lapses in skill and mental discipline.
The pitch debate took another twist when the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, also a former BCCI chief and Gambhir’s ex-teammate, first said that the Indian camp hadn’t asked for a rank turner. Later, he reversed course, admitting that the surface had been deliberately kept dry for days to help spinners, just as the team had requested.
Through all the noise, Sunil Gavaskar’s message stayed simple — the conditions were manageable, the target was modest and India should have handled the pressure far better than they did.
Do you also agree with Sunil Gavaskar?
