A lengthy, animated discussion between the Indian team management and the Eden Gardens pitch curator, Sujan Mukherjee, turned heads on Tuesday. A media report had revealed that India were not particularly happy with the surface for the first Test match against South Africa, which will get underway on Friday in Kolkata, as Shubman Gill had summoned Sujan for a 15-minute chat. Gautam Gambhir, too, had a long discussion with the latter. However, Sujan maintained that the discussion centred purely on the team’s pitch preference.
The Kolkata Test holds significance. Not only is the iconic venue hosting a Test for the first time since the historic pink-ball game in 2019, but South Africa, the reigning World Test Champions, will also pose India’s first real challenge on home soil since the forgettable 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand last year. That unprecedented result taught India that rank turners can backfire for the home team. As a result, they avoided such surfaces in the two Tests against the West Indies last month. However, Sujan, speaking to India Today, said the team had requested “a bit of turn from the surface.”
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After the end of India's optional practice on Tuesday, Sujan said: “The pitch will be good. It will be a good sporting wicket. As the days progress, there will be turn. There will be bounce. But everybody – batter, bowler – there is something for everybody on this pitch. The chat with the team like every home team. See, if you go to Australia, there will be bounce. Likewise, Indian teams ask for a bit of turn. Not much, but they ask for a bit of turn."
{{/usCountry}}After the end of India's optional practice on Tuesday, Sujan said: “The pitch will be good. It will be a good sporting wicket. As the days progress, there will be turn. There will be bounce. But everybody – batter, bowler – there is something for everybody on this pitch. The chat with the team like every home team. See, if you go to Australia, there will be bounce. Likewise, Indian teams ask for a bit of turn. Not much, but they ask for a bit of turn."
{{/usCountry}}Sujan's comment came just a day after Cricket Association of Bengal president Sourav Ganguly clarified that the Indian team management has not asked for a rank turner for the opening Test.
The venue has so far hosted two Ranji Trophy matches in the ongoing domestic season, and the tracks have played on the slower side, offering little assistance to pacers. Bengal fast bowlers Akash Deep and Mohammed Shami initially struggled on the opening day before the senior cricketer turned things around once reverse swing came into play.