“It is not a turner, but a bad wicket” - Indian legend’s massive statement on Eden Gardens pitch after IND vs SA 2025 1st Test

Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin had his say on the controversial pitch at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata used for the first Test against South Africa. The Men in Blue struggled to have a say in their own backyard as they lost by 30 runs while attempting to chase 124 runs in the final innings on Day 3.

None of the Indian batters managed to record a fifty across both innings after visiting off-spinner Simon Harmer ran the show with eight wickets to be adjudged as player of the match. The pitch sported variable bounce and assistance for the spinners almost from the word go, leaving the batters without much scope to operate, settle, and build an innings.

The nature of the pitch became a matter of instant speculation as the blame shifted from the curator to the team management for not learning from the infamous 0-3 whitewash in 2024 against New Zealand. Head coach Gautam Gambhir made it clear during the post-match press conference that he does not view the pitch as a rank turner, and defended the curator for following the hosts' instructions.

While Ashwin agreed with the Indian head coach in terms of the pitch not being a turner, but opined that the pitch was poor for Test cricket standards.

"I want to clear one thing up, this (pitch) is not a turner. It is not a turner, but a bad wicket. Turner is like a red soil wicket in Mumbai that has even spin and bounce. In India, it is difficult to make turners everywhere. The Eastern part of the country is not good for ideal turning wickets. The problem with such wickets is that the batters cannot trust the bounce, nor can they trust the pace, and play shots," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

"I want to take my hat off to Temba Bavuma, not for scoring a fifty, but because he showed that this pitch does not have as many demons in it. So, once again, this pitch was not a turner, it was just an underprepared, and not an ideal wicket," he added.

The South African skipper recorded the defining knock of the Test match with his unbeaten 55 runs off 136 deliveries, which helped the team recover from 91-7 at one stage in the second innings.

"It should be that many only" - R Ashwin advocates the need for designated Test centres in India after IND vs SA 2025 1st Test

Former India Test captain Virat Kohli, during his reign, had spoken about the need for designated Test centres in the country like other prominent sides like Australia, England, and South Africa. However, due to the vast number of international venues in India, and the rotation policy in place with the state associations, the idea has not come to fruition yet.

R Ashwin noted how India need Test centres to have a fair idea of their own wickets and capitalise on home advantage.

"The proper 5,6,7,8, Test centres that are there, it should be that many only. Such that the players know that the pitch will play like this. Eden Gardens is a venue where India play Test cricket, the crowd was excellent. But my view on this is that as a home team, you should know, that this centre will give me results in these many days," R Ashwin opined.

After formidable run on home soil since 2012 in red-ball cricket, the Men in Blue have lost four of their last six Tests under head coach Gautam Gambhir.