Cricket Association of Bengal President Sourav Ganguly has defended curator Sujan Mukherjee amid criticism over the pitch prepared for the opening Test between India and South Africa at Eden Gardens. The surface has heavily favoured bowlers, offering turn and bounce from the first day and making life difficult for batters.

Until the third innings, Temba Bavuma was the only batter to register a fifty, highlighting the lack of an even contest between bat and ball, contrary to Ganguly’s earlier assurance. Former England captain Michael Vaughan also weighed in, bluntly describing the surface as an awful pitch.

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Ganguly maintained that the pitch was prepared exactly as India wanted, adding that this is how a surface naturally behaves when it i

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