{"id":24624,"date":"2025-11-18T01:18:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T01:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/18\/if-someone-cant-play-on-the-pitch-what-can-i-do-eden-curator-defends-controversial-track-cricket-news\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T01:18:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T01:18:11","slug":"if-someone-cant-play-on-the-pitch-what-can-i-do-eden-curator-defends-controversial-track-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/18\/if-someone-cant-play-on-the-pitch-what-can-i-do-eden-curator-defends-controversial-track-cricket-news\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;If Someone Can&#8217;t Play On The Pitch, What Can I Do&#8217;: Eden Curator Defends Controversial Track | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"story-9714367\">\n<p><span class=\"jsx-395e0e0beb19cb6e jsx-4143937483\">Last Updated:<\/span><time class=\"jsx-395e0e0beb19cb6e jsx-4143937483\">November 17, 2025, 21:19 IST<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"asubttl-9714367\" class=\"jsx-c9f81425ec968c48 jsx-3898329015 asubttl-schema\">Eden Gardens chief curator Sujan Mukherjee defends the track after India\u2019s 30-run defeat to South Africa, citing Gambhir\u2019s instructions.<\/h2>\n<div class=\"jsx-c9f81425ec968c48 jsx-3898329015\">\n<figure class=\"jsx-c9f81425ec968c48 jsx-3898329015 amimg\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Indian batters failed to offer any fight in the second innings. (PTI Photo)\" title=\"Indian batters failed to offer any fight in the second innings. (PTI Photo)\" src=\"https:\/\/images.news18.com\/ibnlive\/uploads\/2021\/07\/1627283897_news18_logo-1200x800.jpg?impolicy=website&amp;width=400&amp;height=225\" loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" class=\"jsx-c9f81425ec968c48 jsx-3898329015\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Indian batters failed to offer any fight in the second innings. (PTI Photo)<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"0\" class=\"story_para_0\">Eden Gardens chief curator Sujan Mukherjee has said that the pitch in question was a pretty good one and when India head coach Gautam Gambhir instructed on what kind of pitch the team wants, he doesn\u2019t have a lot to say on the controversy, a day after India slumped to a 30-run loss to South Africa.<\/p>\n<p id=\"2\" class=\"story_para_2\"><span class=\"cf0\">The problem drawing the most discussion is the 22 yards at Eden Gardens. A five-day game ended in just two and a half days, <\/span><span class=\"cf0\">which is not unusual, as many Tests in the past have wrapped up within that time. <\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"3\" class=\"story_para_3\"><span class=\"cf0\">But why is this Eden track being talked about so much? Because batters could not score on it. Only South Africa skipper Temba <\/span><span class=\"cf0\">Bavuma<\/span><span class=\"cf0\"> managed to hit a fifty on this treacherous track.<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"6\" class=\"story_para_6\"><span class=\"cf0\">Speaking to the media before the game, Mukherjee had insisted that the track was of top quality and would provide something for both batters and bowlers. He predicted turn from Day 1 as well, adding that spinners would find increasing assistance as the match wore on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"7\" class=\"story_para_7\"><span class=\"cf0\">But what unfolded was the opposite. Batters received no support whatsoever, while the bowlers ran through the line-ups. India couldn\u2019t chase even a paltry 124 and lost by 30 runs. <\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"9\" class=\"story_para_9\"><span class=\"cf0\">India\u2019s defeat to South Africa dragged Eden\u2019s 22 yards into the eye of a storm. Even though Gambhir clarified after the game that they had been given the exact kind of pitch they had asked for <\/span><span class=\"cf0\">and that India\u2019s batters couldn\u2019t execute, <\/span><span class=\"cf0\">Mukherjee remains firm in his defence of the track he prepared.<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"10\" class=\"story_para_10\">\u201cI am still saying this pitch was good. When Gambhir himself is stating what kind of pitch they had asked for, then what more is there for me to say? My job is to deliver a good pitch and I prepared it as instructed,&#8221; Mukherjee said while speaking to\u00a0<em>Times Now.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p id=\"11\" class=\"story_para_11\">\u201cHow the players perform on it is up to them. Even Bavuma scored runs on this pitch. So? This is a Test, you have to apply yourself and be patient. If you walk in with a plan to hit fours and sixes right away, you won\u2019t survive,&#8221; Mukherjee added.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jsx-c9f81425ec968c48 jsx-3898329015 atbtlink fp\"><span>First Published:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"rs\">\n<p>November 17, 2025, 21:16 IST<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"jsx-c9f81425ec968c48 jsx-3898329015 brdcrmb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/\">News<\/a>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/cricket\/\">cricket<\/a>  <span class=\"brdout\"> &#8216;If Someone Can&#8217;t Play On The Pitch, What Can I Do&#8217;: Eden Curator Defends Controversial Track<\/span><\/div>\n<div id=\"coral-wrap\" class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f \">\n<div class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f coral-cont\">\n<div class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f coltoptxt\">Disclaimer: Comments reflect users\u2019 views, not News18\u2019s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/disclaimer\/\" class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f\">Terms of Use<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/privacy_policy\/\" class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"jsx-c9f81425ec968c48 jsx-3898329015 rmbtn news18_read_more\">Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/cricket\/if-someone-cant-play-on-the-pitch-what-can-i-do-eden-curator-defends-controversial-track-ws-l-9714367.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last Updated:November 17, 2025, 21:19 IST Eden Gardens chief curator Sujan Mukherjee defends the track after India\u2019s 30-run defeat to South Africa, citing Gambhir\u2019s instructions. Indian batters failed to offer any fight in the second innings. (PTI Photo) Eden Gardens chief curator Sujan Mukherjee has said that the pitch in question was a pretty good&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}