India coach Gautam Gambhir had no complaints about the Eden pitch despite India’s embarrassing loss to South Africa, but Cricket Association of Bengal president Sourav Ganguly begs to differ.

“This is exactly the kind of pitch we wanted. If we don’t play well, this is what happens,” Gambhir said.

Sourav, though, feels India’s performance graph in home Tests will be on the rise if better pitches are prepared. “We aren’t insane that we would want to prepare a pitch of that kind,” Sourav said, indicating that the team management’s requirements drove the pitch preparation.

“That was not the best of pitches, I’m sorry to say. India need to play on good pitches at home. They should have more faith in (Jasprit) Bumrah, (Mohammed) Siraj and even Mohammed Shami, who I feel still has a lot to offer.”

Unfortunately, for the Sourav-led CAB, the Eden may face the International Cricket Council (ICC) wrath, thanks to the Indian team management’s insistence on preparing such a track. It was learnt that Richie Richardson, match referee for the just-concluded Test, has found the Eden wicket to be “too dry”.

A very dry pitch with excessive or uneven bounce, leading to an uneven contest between bat and ball, is likely to receive a “below average” or “poor” rating. A “poor” rating means three demerit points for the venue, while it’s one demerit point for a “below average” rating.

‘Sporting’ wicket

At the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati, which will host the second Test from November 22, efforts are on to prepare a sporting wicket that lasts all five days. “We’re preparing a sporting pitch so that the game lasts all five days. We want to ensure a good, five-day wicket,” Assam Cricket Association (ACA) curator Abhijit Bhattacharya told The Telegraph on Sunday.

According to the insiders in the ACA, the team management’s attempts to “influence or request” the curator in preparing an Eden-like pitch may not work as “BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia holds fort here.”