Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh strongly criticised the Indian team management after their defeat in the Kolkata Test match. He targeted the management for preparing a rank-turner — a heavily spin-friendly wicket. The India vs South Africa first Test at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens lasted only two and a half days. On Sunday, during the second session of Day 3, the match was decided. Chasing a target of 124 runs, the Indian team collapsed for just 93, losing the match by 30 runs.
After India’s defeat, the Eden Gardens pitch came under serious scrutiny, especially because 15 wickets fell on the second day. Harbhajan said that such pitches have ruined Test cricket and claimed that they don’t allow players to grow. On his YouTube channel, he stated, “They have completely destroyed Test cricket. Test cricket is dead. Rest in peace, Test cricket. The kind of work they have done and the pitches they have been preparing for so many years — I have been watching it all.”
Harbhajan further said, “No one talks about it because everything looks fine — the team is winning, someone is taking wickets, someone is becoming great by taking wickets — so everyone feels everything is going well. But I believe this trend did not start today. It has been going on for many years, and I think this is the wrong way to play. You are not progressing in any way; you are just going in circles like an ox tied to a mill. You may be winning, but there is no real benefit.”
Related: IND vs SA 2025: Shubman Gill Admitted in Hospital, BCCI Gives Update on Injury
‘You are not progressing’ – Harbhajan
The former spinner further claimed, “As a cricketer, you are not moving forward. So I believe the time has come to think seriously about this — about playing matches on such pitches where even your batsmen don’t know how to score runs, and it makes them look like they don’t know how to bat at all. If conditions become so favourable that players are getting out because of the pitch and not due to skill, then what is the difference between a skilled bowler and a skilled batsman?”
India has now lost four out of their last six Test matches at home.