"Then why was such a wicket requested?" - Former India opener slams Gautam Gambhir and Team India after shock defeat in IND vs SA 2025 1st Test

Former Indian opening batter Sadagoppan Ramesh has blasted head coach Gautam Gambhir for requesting an excessively spinning track for the opening Test against South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata after the 30-run defeat. Ramesh suggested that India haven't learned the lessons from the shocking 3-0 series defeat to New Zealand last year.

In what was a low-scoring match, the Proteas prevailed by 30 runs, bowling out for 93 in defence of 123. With widespread criticism coming for the pitch due to aiding bowlers since Day 1, Gambhir defended the conditions by claiming that this is precisely the deck they wanted. However, the former opener admitted that the hosts didn't quite bat well.

In a video uploaded on Instagram, the 50-year-old observed that opposition teams are starting to understand India's weakness on excessively turning tracks and are playing accordingly.

"It was said that the young side will learn to counter the conditions as time goes by. Then why was such a wicket requested? When Sri Lanka had beaten India in the ODI series, Maheesh Theekshana came out and said they purposely gave turning tracks to Indian batters. Then New Zealand also beat India. All of this tells the story about the current Indian batters’ inability to survive on turning tracks despite which why was such decks dished out?"

Between the two sides, there was only one half-century throughout the game as Temba Bavuma scored a gritty 55 in the second innings. His half-century helped the Proteas set what eventually proved to be a challenging total for the home side to chase down.

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"Makes no sense to me" - Sadagoppan Ramesh on Gautam Gambhir's statement of Indian batters' inability to play well on turning tracks

Gautam Gambhir has come under intense scrutiny (Image Credits: Getty)

Ramesh further claimed that he was more stunned by how a largely inexperienced South African squad outplayed a relatively experienced Indian side, adding:

"Gambhir said the curators gave the wicket they requested but to admit that the Indian batters don’t have the ability to play well on them makes no sense to me. One other thing he said is that the Indian side is experienced. But only two players from the South African squad have played at least five Tests in Inda – Temba Bavuma and Kagiso Rabada. Rabada was not in the eleven, so they only had one player to have featured in at least five Tests in India. But they won. It goes to show which side is more inexperienced."

The second and final Test between India and South Africa begins on November 22 in Guwahati.