Sourav Ganguly ignites new discussion on Indian pitches, expresses admiration for Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah’s impressive afternoon spell on the second day of the second Test against England here on Saturday made former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly advocate for sporting pitches rather than preparing rank turners.

Jasprit Bumrah had a great performance in the second Test against England in Vizag. His impressive bowling made Sourav Ganguly, the former Indian captain, talk about the need for fair pitches instead of ones that heavily favor spin. Bumrah bowled a precise yorker to dismiss Ollie Pope, earning praise from fans. Ganguly, who always supports pace bowling and fair tracks, expressed his views on having pitches that benefit all types of bowlers, not just spinners.

‘When I see Bumrah, Shami, 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 (for support),’ Ganguly wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

The ex-BCCI chief shared a similar opinion last year during India’s series with Australia. He praised Ashwin’s bowling on a good pitch, expressing hope for a good Test match.

‘Great to see Ashwin bowl so well on a good pitch… class will always show…Hopefully, this will be a good Test match…a good opportunity for Indian batsmen after some tuff wickets to bat on, in this series,’ Ganguly had tweeted during the Ahmedabad Test after senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bagged six wickets.

Ganguly hinted that the overall batting quality in the longer format has declined due to pitches being made for quick results. ‘Batting quality dropping because of pitches in last 6 to 7 years at home…good wickets are a must…India will still win over 5 days,’ said Ganguly.