Kolkata: Former India captain and CAB president Sourav Ganguly today termed the Eden Garden’s strip as a sporting wicket. Talking to reporters at the Cricket Association of Bengal , Sourav said the fans will see a good contest between bat and ball.
“It will be a good wicket,” Ganguly told reporters.
The former India captain felt it was more difficult during his playing days rather than the role of an administrator now.
“Here you miss and you get out, in every other thing you get a second chance. As a player you don’t… Playing is always difficult there’s no retake for a player,” Ganguly later said at a promotional event also attended by India’s first World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev.
The Indian captain was at the Eden Gardens to inspect the wicket in the afternoon. He was seen inspecting the wicket with local curator Sujan Mukherjee.
Earlier during the day the Indian team management also had a fair look at the wicket. The pitch was covered when the Men in Blue arrived at the Eden Gardens in the afternoon. Coach Ravi Shastri went in the middle and asked pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee to remove the covers. The Team India Head Coach was accompanied by bowling coach Bharat Arun and ace Indian left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja. Later skipper Virat Kohli too joined the three with national selector Debang Gandhi.
The Indian captain was seen personally talking with the pitch curator. Sujan was apparently seen inserting a key on the wicket to describe something about the 22 yards.
Later after the Indian team’s practice session the groundsmen were seen mowing the grass from the pitch. They were also seen rolling a light roller.
On the other hand, India skipper Virat Kohli showed his caring side during the team’s training session at the Eden Gardens today when he rushed to attend a TV crew member who was hit by a ball of Mohammed Shami.
In full flow at the practice session, the Indian skipper missed one of Mohammed Shami’s deliveries that went out of the net and hit on the forehead of a TV crew member.
Kohli immediately stopped his batting practice and rushed to attend him as Shami too joined in and called for the Indian team physio.
Kohli ensured that the TV crew member got proper treatment before he resumed his practice.