Sourav Ganguly gives honest verdict on nature of Test pitches in India

Generally turning pitches are prepared in India to spin a web around the batters of the visiting teams. However, former India captain Sourav Ganguly has questioned the need to prepare turning tracks in the country.

As per Ganguly, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should focus on good wickets rather than going for rank-turners for home Test matches.

India got the test of their own medicines in the first Test against England in Hyderabad when the hosts lost by 28 runs. Tom Hartley took seven wickets to lead England’s fight back to script a come from behind victory as India’s strategy to prepare a slow turner backfired.

Ganguly took to social media platform X (earlier known as Twitter) to highlight the issue.

When I see Bumrah Sami Siraj Mukesh bowl . I wonder why do we need to prepare turning tracks in india ..my conviction of playing on good wickets keeps getting stronger every game .. They will get 20 wickets on any surface with ashwin jadeja Kuldeep and axar .. batting quality…

— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) February 3, 2024

“When I see Bumrah Sami Siraj Mukesh bowl . I wonder why do we need to prepare turning tracks in india ..my conviction of playing on good wickets keeps getting stronger every game .. They will get 20 wickets on any surface with ashwin jadeja Kuldeep and axar .. batting quality dropping because of pitches in last 6 to 7 yrs at home ..good wickets are a must .. india will still win over 5 days ..@bcci,” tweeted Ganguly.

Notably, India used to draw flak from the cricket boards across the globe for preparing turning tracks for Test cricket conducive to their spinners.