The storm over the sub-standard Eden Gardens pitch for India’s 30-run defeat to South Africa in the first Test shows no sign of abating.

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh and batsman Kris Srikkanth are the latest to blast the surface as unfit for the longest format. The latter says even he would have taken wickets on Eden Gardens pitch

The match ended inside three days, with neither side managing 200 in an innings, and an astonishing 26 wickets falling in the first two days.

Harbhajan, who famously took 13 wickets at Eden Gardens in the iconic 2001 Test against Australia, said the conditions were an embarrassment for Test cricket.

“They have done RIP to Test cricket,” he said on his YouTube channel.

The former spinner said even the greats would struggle on such an unpredictable surface.

“Even the likes of Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar cannot survive because one ball will keep low, bounce extra or turn viciously. Technique is not coming into play, just the pitch.”

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Srikkanth was equally scathing, calling the wicket “horrible” and “not a Test match wicket”.

He added that the surface exaggerated both spin and seam movement.

“It’s up and down for the quicks, it’s turning square for the spinners. On this surface, even I would have taken wickets,” said the 1983 World Cup winner who never took a single wicket during his playing days.

Photo: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images