IND vs SA: Eden Gardens a perfect case study on impact of thriving crowds and need for top-flight Test venues

Eden Gardens a perfect case study on impact of thriving crowds and need for top-flight Test venues (BCCI Photo)

36000 people on Day 1 and 42000 people on Day 2. That’s what a pedigreed Test centre does for the format. Eden Gardens was allotted a Test match after six years and the fans turned up in numbers to make it memorable.

With wickets falling all day, there was never a dull moment. There were multiple balls that took the edge but did not go to hand. For the crowd, however, every ball was a wicket ball. They cheered every run scored and every run saved. They loved every wicket and every catch. The roar was loud and the atmosphere fitting of a Test match. Many came and asked for tickets and that’s what we have been missing in Test matches in India for a while.

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Going forward there is enough to suggest that centers like Eden Gardens, Chepauk, Wankhede should get top flight Test cricket. Thousands will turn up and that’s where the game is enriched. You don’t like the sight of empty seats and it looks terrible in broadcast. It also questions India’s position as the nerve centre of world cricket and doesn’t portray a nice picture. With Australia scheduled to come a year from now, it will be essential to allot Test matches to centers that justify the hosting rights.

Coming to the game all talk will be about the pitch. Former players have tweeted saying it isn’t a good pitch but the truth is we have seen many such pitches in England and Australia, which are as difficult as this one.

Awful pitch in Kolkata … #INDvSA

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— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) November 15, 2025

The SCG pitch used for the India-Australia game at the start of the year is a case in point. It was poor and yet not much was said about it. There are no benchmarks to suggest that a green wicket is a good one and a dry wicket a bad one. India used the wicket to their advantage and have all the aces in their corner going into the deciding Day 3 of the contest.

People will debate this for the next few days and the pitch will perhaps get an average rating from the ICC. But the Indians wont complain as long as they take the coveted 1-0 lead and are watched by 35000-40000 people on the Sunday.