Exclusive: Sourav Ganguly Was "Dissatisfied" With Eden Pitch, Complied With Team India To Maintain BCCI Relationship

Four days without water. That was the brief India's team management gave Eden Gardens, and the surface responded exactly as scripted-low, slow, cracked, and chaotic from ball one. Gautam Gambhir wanted a wicket that would break early; Kolkata delivered. But as India lost to South Africa by 30 runs in the first Test, the pitch they engineered turned into the 12th man they never expected. Now, with sources confirming Eden stayed covered and bone-dry on instruction, Kolkata's turf is under the scanner.

Team India wanted a dry turner. What they got was a deck that seemed to have a mind-and mischief-of its own. The Eden Gardens surface, unwatered for four days and kept covered through heavy dew on team-management instructions, became the unlikely 12th man in South Africa's 30-run win in the Kolkata Test.

A Cricket Association of Bengal source told NDTV that the curator's usual processes were overridden. "Under the instruction of the team management, the pitch was not watered for four days. When the dew came, work was not done on the curator's will but the team management's. It was kept covered," the source said.

November in Kolkata can be tricky-cool, dry mornings, abrasive afternoons, and enough bite in the air to crack open even the best-laid surfaces. India's best cricketing minds had ordered a wicket that would break from day one, and Eden complied. The ball darted, jagged, skidded, and occasionally leapt with no apparent provocation. The turf seemed to turn on India.

Well before the toss, the BCCI had dispatched its Head of Curators, Ashish Bhowmik, to work alongside curator Sujan Mukherjee, shaping the exact surface the team management had asked for.

Once the defeat was sealed, Gautam Gambhir was effusive toward the curator. "He gave us exactly what we wanted. He worked really hard," the India coach said. Two days later, a photograph of Gambhir hugging Mukherjee went viral-optics that only deepened the debate.

This story has roots that run back to Gambhir's days with Kolkata Knight Riders. As captain and later mentor, he routinely pushed for turning tracks despite having world-class spinners, insisting KKR win on their strengths. Back then, KKR's wishes clashed with Sourav Ganguly, then the BCCI President, who wanted high-scoring 190-plus pitches to keep the contest vibrant.

That tension clearly hasn't disappeared.

Now president of the CAB, Ganguly allowed the pitch preparation to proceed without interference, even though insiders say he was "extremely dissatisfied" with the surface. His exclusive comments to NDTV after the match were telling.

"Play on good wickets. I hope Gautam Gambhir is listening," he said, leaning forward as if delivering a message across generations. "I have got a lot of regard for him... but he must play on good wickets. Because he has got Bumrah, Siraj, Shami, Kuldeep, Jadeja."

Many believe Ganguly chose to stay hands-off to maintain a smooth relationship with the BCCI-especially with Kolkata eyeing a semifinal berth for the 2026 T20 World Cup.

In the end, the pitch India designed to win them the match may have instead cost them one. Eden delivered what Gambhir wanted-but also what South Africa needed.

Topics mentioned in this article

Cricket India Cricket Team South Africa Cricket Team India vs South Africa 2025, India India vs South Africa, 1st Test Sourav Ganguly