The 2nd India vs South Africa Test pitch in Guwahati will be in focus when the match starts on Friday. India capitulated in spectacular fashion in the first Test in Kolkata, failing to chase a 124-run target. The 30-run loss in that match has now placed India in a must-win situation in the second Test for the Gautam Gambhir-coached side to draw the series. India's loss at Eden Gardens divided opinions. While former players like Sunil Gavaskar and Gambhir himself said there were no demons in the pitch, others like Harbhajan Singh and Mohammad Kaif felt India's insistence on having turning pitches at home led to the hosts' undoing.
In the midst of such a row, a report in TOI claimed that the second Test pitch at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati will offer "more prodigious turn and bounce."
"The pitch here is made of red soil, which has the tendency to offer more pace and bounce. The Indian team had made their demands clear before the home season. So, if the pitch offers turn, it will turn at pace and bounce. The curators are trying to ensure there is no substantial variable bounce," a BCCI source told TOI.
The pitch row triggered by India's embarrassing 30-run loss to South Africa while chasing a modest 124 has also opened up a larger question-are young skipper Shubman Gill and coach Gautam Gambhir on the same page on what constitutes ideal home conditions? The collapse, India's lowest failed chase at home, has left behind deeper fault lines than a dry Eden Gardens wicket can conceal.
Just a month ago, on the eve of the West Indies Test series in Ahmedabad, Gill had been emphatic that the team has moved away from the philosophy of preferring "rank turners."
"...we would be looking to play on wickets that offer both to the batsmen and to the bowlers," Gill had said, outlining a vision of balanced surfaces.
Yet India walked into the series against the reigning World Test champions on a pitch that was the exact opposite of what their captain advocated.
The Eden strip was left unwatered for more than a week and was kept under cover in the evening. The result was a dry, flaky surface that disintegrated from session one in a match that lasted barely eight sessions, producing 38 wickets-with spinners taking 22 and pacers 16.
If the team had moved away from rank turners, Eden suggested the opposite. Gambhir was unapologetic and had no qualms declaring that the pitch was exactly what the team management wanted.
"If you don't play well, this is what happens. There were no demons in the wicket," he asserted.