South Africa batting coach Ashwell Prince has criticized the Eden Gardens pitch after his team collapsed from 57/0 to 159 all out on day one. He blamed “inconsistency of the bounce” and a resulting “trust deficit” for preventing South African batters from ever feeling settled.​

The Trust Issue

Prince was forthright about how the variable bounce undermined his batters’ confidence. “I think the signs were there pretty early on that the bounce is not consistent,” he said after the opening day’s play.​

“Quite often what can happen is that when you expect batters to get to 20, 30 and grow in confidence, I don’t particularly believe that any of the batters grew in confidence because of the inconsistency of the bounce,” Prince explained.​

The key problem, according to the batting coach, was psychological. “What can happen is that you don’t trust the surface as much as you should after spending an hour at the crease,” he stated.​

Five Batters Fall Between 20-30

That trust deficit manifested in South Africa’s scorecard, where five batters fell between scores of 20 and 30. After openers Aiden Markram (31) and Ryan Rickelton (23) gave them a bright start, Jasprit Bumrah’s spell of 5/27 ripped through the middle order and exposed the pitch’s challenges.​

Prince acknowledged that while some dismissals came from quality bowling, the unpredictable surface made strokeplay increasingly uncertain as the innings progressed.​

Quality Bowling Compounded Problems

While critical of the pitch, Prince didn’t absolve his batters entirely or overlook India’s excellence. “Of course, when you face a quality bowling attack, they can more often than not get the ball in the danger area and it does too much for you. And unfortunately, that’s been the case today,” he said.​

He praised Bumrah’s “sensational” performance while noting that Mohammed Siraj and the spinners also contributed significantly to South Africa’s struggles. “Quite a few good deliveries and sometimes as batters, there’s not a lot you can do about them,” Prince admitted.​

Rabada’s Absence Felt

South Africa were already handicapped without Kagiso Rabada, ruled out with a rib injury. Prince admitted the absence hurt particularly after watching Bumrah exploit the conditions with precision.​

“KG is a world-class bowler, probably one of the top two or three seam bowlers in the world. And we’ve seen what damage one of the other best seam bowlers in the world can do on that surface. So he’ll definitely be missed because I do think it is actually aiding the fast bowlers,” Prince stated.​

Not a Free-Scoring Pitch

Prince pointed to India’s cautious reply as evidence the pitch offered little for free. India ended day one at 37/1 with KL Rahul batting 13 off 59 balls—a strike rate that confirmed the difficulty of scoring.​

“Rahul, I think, is 13 of nearly 60 deliveries…it would suggest that it’s not a free-scoring pitch,” Prince observed.​

Second Innings Strategy

With the game far from over, Prince indicated South Africa would revisit their approach for the second innings. “I’m sure we’ll have some discussions about which type of options we can take, more aggressive options. Everybody’s got his own character and his own type of style that he brings to the game,” he said.​

“Most of the time, we trust people to play within their character. But obviously, we have to take the surface into consideration…Next time around, the second innings round, we have to play the conditions,” he added.​

Still in the Contest Despite trailing significantly, Prince insisted South Africa remained in the game. “Obviously, from our point of view, we want them to have at least 150 to chase in the second innings…But that’s a long way away. First things first is to try and get a couple of early wickets in the morning, and then see how the day unfolds,” he stated.​

Guarded on Pitch Rating

When asked if the surface merited criticism after a day of sharp variations, Prince was cautious about passing judgment too quickly. “Well, it’s early days. I mean, it’s only been one day. It’s pretty early to give a rating to the surface,” he concluded.​