00:01Let's go to the great legend Sunil Gavaskar himself
00:03to get his view on the pitch controversy.
00:06Mr. Gavaskar, appreciate you joining us.
00:08Now, weighing in on the Eden pitch controversy,
00:10Indian coach Gautam Gambhir claimed there were no demons in the pitch,
00:14even as the likes of Saurabh Ganguly are already raising questions
00:17over the quality of the pitch.
00:18Was it? What is your view?
00:20Do you agree this pitch was unfit for Test cricket?
00:25No, I totally agree with what the Indian coach has said.
00:30Because there were no demons in the pitch.
00:32Yes, the oddball was going to turn on day three.
00:35I don't think it was a pitch where you get all out for 90 runs
00:40like the Indian team did.
00:42124 was getable.
00:45And getable with, you know, at least five equals an hour.
00:51But, sir, you are saying that this pitch was not unfit.
00:54But the truth of the matter is, sir, right from day one,
00:57we saw uneven bounce.
00:59The Pacers benefited from it.
01:01There was sharp turn.
01:02Puffs of dust were coming out from the pitch.
01:05It started crumbling from day one.
01:07How can we say that this was a good cricket wicket
01:09or a wicket fit for a five-day Test match?
01:12No, it didn't start to crumble from day one.
01:18Not at all.
01:19You know, on Indian pitches, you are likely to get a little puff of dust coming.
01:26But, no, it wasn't a pitch which was crumbling from day one.
01:30Not at all.
01:30So, I don't think it is something where you could say it was a bad pitch.
01:39It was just that the Indians didn't learn anything from what Temba Bhavuma did.
01:44Temba Bhavuma showed you.
01:46Somebody who plays on bouncy pitches back home, that good technique, good temperament,
01:52throwing a lot of patience, playing with soft hands, not looking to jab at the ball,
01:58is something which can help you to score runs.
02:01And what did India need?
02:03India needed one batter to bat like Temba Bhavuma and score 55, knockout,
02:09and they would have got to 124 without a problem.
02:12So, it's interesting what you're saying.
02:14You're saying it's not so much about the quality of the pitch, but the quality of batting.
02:18Because, let's be honest also, Mr. Gavaskar,
02:21this is the same team which was routinely scoring 400, 500 runs in every match in England just a few months ago.
02:27So, they are not a bad batting team, surely?
02:31Yes.
02:32Yes, there is an issue when the ball is doing just a little bit.
02:37The pitches in England were pretty, what you would call, flat pitches.
02:42Now, if you want to play test cricket on flat pitches, fine.
02:46But if you want to play cricket where there is a little challenge,
02:49that it's not shut for the bowlers completely,
02:53that the bowlers also get a little bit of help,
02:56then you want to play on a pitch where there might be a little bit of grass,
02:59or there might be a little bit of, which will help seam movement,
03:02or there might be just a little area where the spinners can come into play.
03:08And that is what will make test cricket far more interesting.
03:12But, sir, with due regard, the match ends up in three days.
03:16Now, we have ended up losing in India four test matches in a row against the top countries,
03:21which has not happened before.
03:23Something is seriously wrong, sir.
03:25Either the other countries are adjusting faster to such wickets,
03:28or as you said, our batsmen need to play spin better.
03:31Surely, we would have been better off playing on a good cricket wicket that lasts five days,
03:35rather than a wicket that reduces batting to a bit of a lottery.
03:39Whoever wins the toss gets a huge advantage, sir.
03:41No, no, no.
03:44This one was not a lottery.
03:46I don't think we should be using all those terms like this was a lottery and all that,
03:49because this wasn't a bad pitch.
03:51There were no demons in the pitch.
03:53I totally agree with the Indian coach.
03:55The Indian batters in both the innings did not show the resolve to try and stick around there.
04:04Look, you've got to keep your ego in the change room.
04:07You cannot also be mentally into a space where somebody tells you,
04:12this pitch is doing this, so you better go and smash the ball around.
04:15No.
04:16Temba Bhavuma showed you how you should bat.
04:19And that is what, and I can understand, sometimes, you know, team meetings are held the previous day,
04:25and you forget the next morning.
04:28But here, just an hour or two earlier, the South African captain has given you an exhibition of batting,
04:33how to bat on a pitch where there was just a little bit of turn.
04:37You saw Simon Hammer.
04:38How many deliveries did he turn?
04:40You saw Keshav Maharaj.
04:41How many deliveries did he turn?
04:43He didn't.
04:44The odd ball, yes.
04:45On day three, you are going to get the odd ball, which is going to turn.
04:49But the point is that the Indian batters, did they show the requisite temperament?
04:55I'm not even talking about technique.
04:57You saw Yashashvi Jaiswal start in the second innings.
05:00Did you see the first three balls, the kind of shots that he attempted?
05:04Three balls, first over.
05:07This is what you play.
05:08Eventually, he got out to a very good delivery.
05:10That's another matter.
05:12But this is it.
05:13So, temperamentally, you are told,
05:14while the new ball is there,
05:16but that is not what test cricket is.
05:21Test cricket, you can leave deliveries alone.
05:23You can wait for the scorable day.
05:26You can look for ones and twos.
05:27How many times are you looking for ones and twos?
05:30You can't be looking all the time for boundaries and sixes.
05:32No, if you're saying there's a problem with temperament as much as technique,
05:38should we be making wholesale changes?
05:41Is this the IPL effect, which has meant whole temperament technique,
05:44the idea of batting time no longer exists?
05:47Should we make wholesale changes in the team?
05:48Well, you can't make wholesale changes because that does not send a good signal.
05:55But if you want to look at the temperament of some of the guys
06:00and you want to then go by that,
06:02do you think that person has got the temperament as well as the technique?
06:06If the person doesn't have the temperament or technique,
06:08and I'm not saying Jaiswal doesn't have it,
06:10maybe he didn't get it right in one game.
06:12He's a very, very talented cricketer.
06:14But his approach was, you know, in the second innings,
06:18was the first three deliveries were a little bit hard to understand.
06:21They were, you know, but I think what you really need
06:24is to look at the temperament and the technique
06:26that the others have or did not have.
06:29And therefore, you want to make your decisions on that.
06:32But, you know, with a test match with just a two or three day gap,
06:36you're not going to be able to make those changes.
06:38None of the international, India international players,
06:42played domestic cricket.
06:43But domestic cricket is where you get pitches
06:45where the ball will grip and turn a little bit
06:47because teams are trying to get points
06:49so that they qualify for the knockouts.
06:51And so you look at the domestic scorers,
06:54look at the heavy domestic scorers,
06:55and then pick them for test matches
06:57because they are used to playing on pitches like this.
07:00Pick them for test matches in India
07:01because they are used to playing on these kind of pitches.
07:04Pick them.
07:05But you don't pick them
07:06because you've already got an international side going.
07:09That is the thing.
07:10You know, you're making a very good point.
07:13Pick players based on their domestic form.
07:15Maybe for the next two or three days,
07:17these players should watch your great innings
07:19in your final test against Pakistan 1987.
07:22They can learn how to play with soft hands.
07:24The way to play on a sore is sharply turning pitch,
07:27Mr. Gavaskar.
07:28No, I think they have to just look at what Temba Bhavuma did.
07:34Temba Bhavuma showed how to play on a pitch
07:37where there was something.
07:39Even our bowlers, Jadeja, Akshar, did not turn every ball.
07:44The odd ball was turning.
07:46That's it.
07:47Kuldeep, yes, being a wrist spinner,
07:48can turn the ball on glass.
07:49Wrist spinners turn the ball on glass.
07:51They don't need any assistance from the pitch.
07:53But how many of Jadeja's deliveries
07:55and Akshar Patel deliveries kicked and bounced?
07:58Not many.
07:59Yes, the odd one did.
08:01They're very good spinners.
08:01That's why.
08:03But that is why I'm saying, you know,
08:04when we're talking about the pitch, pitch, pitch,
08:06I think you should be actually talking about
08:08the batting, batting, batting,
08:09rather than the pitch.
08:11Okay, you've given us a one-liner.
08:13Don't talk about pitch, pitch, pitch.
08:14Talk about batting, batting, batting.
08:16Sunil Gavaskar,
08:17we may agree to disagree on this point,
08:19but thank you very much
08:20for joining me here on the news today.
08:23I was...
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