Gautam Gambhir backs ‘under-fire’ Kolkata curator, Questions India’s anility to Handle pressure

Eden Gardens’ pitch curator has been under fire, but Indian team’s head coach Gautam Gambhir has backed him while lamenting his batters’ inability to “absorb pressure,” and find a way to score runs on the challenging surface in the opening Test against South Africa. The Proteas successfully defended 124 to humble India by 30 runs, having bowled the home team out for 93 in their second innings.

“It was not an unplayable wicket, there were no demons. If you are willing to put your head down and if you have a solid defense, if you have a temperament, you can definitely score runs,” Gambhir said at the post-match media interaction.

“We keep talking about turning track, but if you look at the 40 wickets, majority of the wickets went to seamers,” Gambhir said. It is worth noting that the match witnessed 16 wickets to the pacers and spinners accounting for 22. The total goes up to 38 as Shubman Gill was retired hurt.

“So, if you are out on the turning track or seamers. I don’t think it was a tough wicket. It was a wicket where your technique can be judged, your mental toughness can be challenged, and more important than that is your temperament,” he added.

“Because if you are looking to grind, if you are looking to bat long, then you can make runs. But if you are in an attacking mindset, or if you try to play attacking cricket, then it is difficult. All the people who have played good defence, whether it is KL Rahul, Temba or Washington, all of them have made runs,” he concluded.