‘India deserve the loss’: Furious cricket fans slam Gautam Gambhir, Rishabh Pant, Eden Gardens pitch | IND vs SA today
After 15 years, South Africa have defeated India in Test cricket in India. The 1st Test match in the series was over within two-and-a-half days.
Since the defeat, Indian cricket fans have pointed out multiple decision blunders by Team India. Some of them slammed acting captain Rishabh Pant for getting out with a reckless shot. Many blamed his “irresponsible” game plan for India’s loss.
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“This blind slogger Rishabh Pant can’t perform in pressure situations even in his best format tests, also failed in WTC final . He doesn’t have a Single fifty after playing 6 ICC tournaments, yet he gets selected above Sanju Samson in ODIs, that too with an average of 33,” wrote one fan.
“The reason Shubman Gill is India’s Test captain and not Rishabh Pant. Ind vs Eng 4th test , IND 2-0, Pant unavailable, Gill steps up with a clutch hundred. Ind vs SA: Series 1-2 , Pant plays a 1st-ball reverse sweep, survives twice on luck and gets out. Irresponsible af,” commented another.
“Disappointment. You were only the hope but what have you done! No words,” posted another.
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Many Indian cricket fans have also slammed Head Coach Gautam Gambhir.
“Under GG’s stupidity, India will break many negative records,” posted one of them.
“The Gautam Gambhir Era: Tactics felt way too predictable, like everyone had the script. Mid-match adjustments came late, almost like buffering. Player rotation looked more like guessing than planning. Team energy dipped instead of rising under pressure.”
“Gautam Gambhir alone destroyed the Indian team in all formats. You can’t win a Test without experienced players,” came from another.
Another wrote, “Gautam Gambhir & Ajit Agarkar destroyed Indian Test Cricket with their ego, hate & favouritism!! Dropped Sai Sudarshan from XI when he scored 87 & 39 in the last two matches.”
“Please sack Gautam Gambhir and save our test team. Enough is enough,” wrote another.
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Shame on selection
Team India’s selection of the playing XI has been under scrutiny since specialist number 3 batter Sai Sudharsan was dropped without citing any reasons. Washington Sundar, a lower-order batter, was chosen for the position.
One fan remarked, “India deserve the loss because they played with 4 spinners, 2 wicket keepers and 2 pace bowlers. The importance of pure batsmen is lost here. Any time you need 4-5 solid batsmen to win. Shame on selection.”
“South Africa win. India getting belt treatment for preparing such treacherous pitches. Last year, New Zealand beat India 3-0. Lessons not learnt, they broke the pitch again,” commented another.
Another wrote, “Can we take a moment to talk about the horrid pitch that Eden Gardens served up? Not at all as an excuse for the loss, but this isn’t the spinning equivalent of a green top in English conditions. It was just a terrible pitch. It’s almost as if nothing can go right in Kolkata.”
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Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir asked for it
CAB President Sourav Ganguly has blamed skipper Shubman Gill and Head Coach Gautam Gambhir for the poor pitch at Eden Gardens during the IND vs SA 1st Test. The pitch showed uneven bounce and sharp turn from Day 1. The first two days claimed 27 wickets.
Many former cricketers, including Harbhajan Singh and Michael Vaughan, criticised the pitch and called it a “mockery of Test cricket”. According to Ganguly, the pitch was exactly what Gill and Gambhir asked for.
“We delivered what the Indian camp asked for. If no water is applied to the pitch for four days, this is exactly what will happen. Now you can’t just push the blame onto curator Sujan Mukhopadhyay,” the former India captain told News18 Bangla.
