Sourav Ganguly not happy with the Johannesburg pitch for the final Test

The surface and conditions prevailing in the final Test match between South Africa and India being played at the New Wanderers Stadium came in all sought of talks after the end of the first day’s play. The track provided a greater amount of assistance to the fast bowlers which made things troublesome for the batters because of the lateral movement on offer.

After opting to bat first, the visitors once again displayed poor show with the bat as they were bowled out for 187 runs, as the South African bowlers benefitted from the conditions and also bowled on consistent lengths.

Sourav Ganguly wants the ICC to investigate this matter

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly feels that the Johannesburg pitch seems to be an unfair one for the batsmen and wants the International Cricket Council (ICC) to intervene in this matter. Earlier, keeping in mind the surface on offer, both the captains, Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis decided to include an extra fast bowler in their respective by dropping the spinners.

Virat opted to bat first, while the South African skipper stated that he wanted to bowl first and take due advantage of these conditions. The Indian skipper’s decision looked a tricky one and things worsened as India lost both their openers with only 13 runs on the board.

I witnessed this before in New Zealand in 2003

The former Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly stated that the last time he saw green tracks on offer like these, it was in New Zealand back in 2003. Ganguly mentioned that the batters have a minimal chance of surviving on this kind of wickets as the ball is doing too much with the lateral movement coming into play.

In 2003, Indian team suffered a disappointing whitewash 0-2 in the Test matches and were also conquered in the ODI series 2-5, which had similar kind of wickets like this Johannesburg wicket for the final Test match. The current CAB President mentioned that the ICC should look into it and ensure the suitable outcome of this situation.

“To play test cricket on this surface is unfair …saw it in NZ in 2003 …batsman have minimum chance …ICC should look into it,” wrote Ganguly on his Twitter handle.