RCB star dismisses Eden Gardens pitch controversy, says ‘This is not the first…’

Bhuvneshwar Kumar says the Eden Gardens pitch debate is meaningless and insists India's defeat to South Africa is not a major concern.

India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar believes that the debate around preparing a spin-friendly wicket at the Eden Gardens for the first Test is meaningless, especially since South Africa have been producing such tracks for years. India failed to chase a modest 124-run target and were defeated by the Proteas by 30 runs inside three days. The loss reminded many of India’s 0-3 thrashing in New Zealand last year, when the Blackcaps spinners played a major role in their historic clean sweep against Rohit Sharma’s team.

“This is not the first time a spin-friendly track has been prepared. No one raised this question before because India was winning. And winning and losing is part of the game. It’s not that the team has not lost before or it has lost for the first time. I don’t think it’s (defeat) a big worry for me,” said the 35-year-old pacer, who announced the launch of the CricGiri app, of which he is the co-founder.

When asked whether India had to play four spinners at Eden Gardens, Bhuvneshwar said it dependant entirely on the nature of the surface.

“The way the wicket was prepared, we all know that the requirement was for four spinners (Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Washington Sundar). We had some good spinners, it was a turning track, and the way the match went, it was a good decision to play four spinners,” he said.

India suffered a major setback when captain Shubman Gill ruled out of the Kolkata Test due to a neck injury. However Bhuvneshwar refrained from commenting on how the young captain’s workload should be managed.

“Gill has become captain recently. If he so desires, he would speak out for himself. He is part of the think-tank, decision-making, so if he really needs rest, he will say that he needs rest. Mentally and physically, he is in a position to say that,” opined Bhuvneshwar, who will be donning Royal Challengers colours once again in the IPL next year.

The Indian team is scheduled to travel to Guwahati on Wednesday for the second and final Test, starting Saturday.

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