Have to give credit to the team management for the changes: Sourav Ganguly

As President of the CAB, Sourav Ganguly and his team have successfully hosted their first Test match at the Eden Gardens. The added incentive for the same was the fact that India clinched an impressive win in what turned out to be an impressive Test match altogether. Speaking about it, Ganguly went ahead and spoke about the foresight of Anil Kumble, the incumbent Indian coach.

Having played with Kumble, Ganguly went on to heap a ton of praise on Ganguly and the team management for their foresight on the nature of the wicket. With a bit of grass on the wicket, Kumble decided to bring in Bhuvneshwar Kumar in a bid to help the 26-year old extract some swing from the surface.

“You have got to give credit to the team management because they made that change after Nagpur. I had said before the start of this Test match that there is going to be help for the pacers on this surface. As soon as the Team Management saw a bit of grass on this pitch they got Bhuvi in who is the right kind of bowler for this surface. When you have pitches with grass I think it is important to put the ball in the right areas and that is exactly what Bhuvneshwar Kumar did and that is how he got the purchase out of the surface”, said the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal.

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Bhuvneshwar Kumar, as he did in the Test match in the West Indies made a comeback to the side with a five-wicket haul.

“Bhuvi got the ball to come into the right hander and go away from the right hander and he put doubts in the minds of the Kiwi batsmen. I think the wicket of Martin Guptill put a lot of doubt in the Kiwi batsmen as it just climbed from a length. This wicket has enough pace and carry as we have seen in the first two days of the Test match and I think Bhuvi was exceptional”, added Ganguly.

Speaking about the surface and conditions, Ganguly said, “I think Eden has a sporting wicket and this was the best we have had in the last 3 or 4 years. Shami got a lot of wickets in 2013-14 at Eden and that had a lot to do with reverse swing. But this surface with the new ball there was bounce and carry and this will help spinners from Day 3 and Day 4. This is probably the best wicket we have had at Eden Gardens as we saw deliveries which continued to rise over Saha and you hardly get to see that in these sort of conditions. It is a wicket that has bounce, yes there were those deliveries which kept low because it is a new surface, but once it starts settling down it is going to be a consistently pacy pitch right throughout the Test match. It has been a good wicket as you need to put your head down to get runs on these sort of wickets.”

“This is probably the best wicket we have had at Eden Gardens as we saw deliveries which continued to rise over Saha and you hardly get to see that in these sort of conditions. It is a wicket that has bounce, yes there were those deliveries which kept low because it is a new surface, but once it starts settling down it is going to be a consistently pacy pitch right throughout the Test match. It has been a good wicket as you need to put your head down to get runs on these sort of wickets.”

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