Former Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly, who is also the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), felt that the Eden Gardens’ surface, which was used for the opening clash between India and South Africa, was not one of the greatest. Many claimed that the spinning surface brought the visitors way more into the fixture.

The home side failed to chase down the target of 124 runs in the fourth innings of the clash and got bundled out for 93 in the fourth innings. With the 30-run victory, the Temba Bavuma-led side is moving into the second Guwahati clash with a 1-0 lead in the two games. Ganguly has not been happy with the Eden surface and criticized it in an interaction.

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“It's not a controversy, not the best Test wicket, so unfortunately India lost. India's team should have got 124.  It was not the greatest of test pitches. The pitch was made on Gautam Gambhir's instructions. I am very fond of Gautam; he has done well in the 2011 and T20 World Cups.  He will continue for a while, but he must play on good pitches in India.” Ganguly expressed in the discussion.

Sourav Ganguly disagrees with Gautam Gambhir’s comment on Eden Gardens surface

The Indian head coach, Gautam Gambhir, wasn’t disappointed with the surface and informed that it was the exact surface that they desired from the curator in Kolkata. He also addressed that those batters who showed application with the bat earned success in the game.

“Shubman Gill's vacuum was a lot of a top-class number four batter; he couldn't bat in two innings, and we lost by 30 runs. The pitch was the same for both teams.” Ganguly reckoned.

“It was not an unplayable wicket. This (pitch) is exactly what we asked for, and this is what we got; the curator (Sujan Mukherjee) here was very supportive. I think it's a wicket that can judge your mental toughness, as those who played with good defense scored runs. This is exactly the pitch we were looking for. There were no demons or unplayable. Axar, Temba, and Washington made runs.” Gambhir explained in the post-match presentation.