"It never seemed like the Indian batters were prepared for such a pitch" - Cheteshwar Pujara disagrees with Gautam Gambhir after IND vs SA 1st Test

Former India player Cheteshwar Pujara has disagreed with Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir's comments on the pitch used for the first Test against South Africa. He highlighted that the Indian batters didn't seem to be prepared to play on such a spin-friendly surface.

South Africa registered a 30-run win in the first Test of the two-match series against India in Kolkata on Sunday, November 16. At the post-match press conference, Gambhir noted that the pitch wasn't unplayable and that the batters needed to apply themselves better to score runs on it.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Pujara disagreed with Gambhir's views on the pitch.

"I don't agree with it slightly, because considering the kind of wicket it was, you cannot blame just the batters. If you want to play on such a pitch, firstly, your preparation should be slightly different. Although Gauti bhai was saying that they wanted such a pitch, this wicket wasn't easy for batting. That's a fact," the former India batter said.

"See the numbers of both teams. Only one batter scored 50 runs. It means it wasn't a good wicket. The wicket was bad. If you want to play on such pitches, your batters need to be prepared. It never seemed like the Indian batters were prepared for such a pitch because your shots are different when you play on such pitches," he added.

Temba Bavuma, who scored an unbeaten 55 in South Africa's second innings, was the only player to cross the 50-run mark in the Kolkata Test. None of the Indian players reached 40 across both innings, with KL Rahul (39) top-scoring for the hosts in the first innings and Washington Sundar (31) in the second.

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"That doesn't mean this wicket wasn't difficult" - Cheteshwar Pujara on soft dismissals and batters falling prey to pacers in IND vs SA 2025 1st Test

Pacers picked up 16 of the 38 wickets in the Kolkata Test. [P/C: Getty]

While acknowledging that there were a few soft dismissals and that the pitch cannot be blamed for batters falling prey to pace, Cheteshwar Pujara noted that it doesn't imply that the wicket wasn't difficult to bat on.

"I agree with one thing that the wickets the fast bowlers took weren't because of the pitch. It was a turning track. There were a few soft dismissals as well, I am not denying that, but that doesn't mean this wicket wasn't difficult," he said.

While agreeing that Temba Bavuma showed how runs could have been scored on the Eden Gardens pitch, the cricketer-turned-commentator added that such surfaces shouldn't become the norm.

"It's not like you can't bat on this wicket. The wicket might not have been prepared the way you want, but you have to play according to the wicket. If Temba Bavuma can show how to bat on this wicket, it means batting can be done. However, would you want to play on such a pitch? You won't like to play many matches on such wickets," Pujara observed.

Cheteshwar Pujara highlighted that batters were relying more on luck than on skill for their survival. He added that runs couldn't have been scored with a conventional risk-free approach on the Eden Gardens pitch.