IND Vs SA 1st Test: Eden Gardens Surface Under Fire - Top Reactions

The 1st Test between India and South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata is on the verge of a finish and it is not even day 4 yet. A result, most probably India's win, is guaranteed to come on day 3 and this has raised plenty of speculations around the nature of the pitch.

It has also sparked plenty of online reactions from fans as well as former cricketers, who are criticizing the pitch and are also speaking about the dying excitement of Test cricket.

11 wickets fell on Day 1, and it wasn't just because of India's bowling superiority or South Africa's shortcomings in their batting line-up, but also due to the unpredictable nature of the surface in Kolkata.

The variable or the uneven bounce at the Eden Gardens has been a major headache for all batters. Jasprit Bumrah took advantage of it and registered a five-wicket haul, maintaining a tight stump-to-stump line.

Spinners have also benefitted from this track with Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel sharing 4 wickets between them in the 1st innings. For South Africa, spinners Keshav Maharaj (1/66) and Simon Harmer (4/30) shared 5 wickets between them.

Pacers Corbin Bosch (1/32) and Marco Jansen (3/35) took the remaining 4 wickets.

In the 3rd innings, Bumrah took the backseat as spinners - Ravindra Jadeja (4), Kuldeep Yadav (2) and Axar Patel (1) claimed all of the 7 South African wickets. That speaks a lot about the pitch and how it has behaved.

Sometimes it stays too low and sometimes it bounces incredibly high off the pitch.

Harbhajan Singh, Michael Vaughan And Irfan Pathan Express Their Views

Former cricketers Harbhajan Singh, Michael Vaughan and Irfan Pathan - all expressed their views about the Eden Gardens pitch.

"Awful pitch in Kolkata … #INDvSA" - Vaughan wrote on X. Harbhajan Singh went as far as to claim that a day 3 finish will be a mockery of Test cricket.

"Test cricket india vs South Africa the game almost over on 2nd day isn’t finished yet . What a mockery of test cricket #RIPTESTCRICKET." - Harbhajan Singh wrote.

Irfan Pathan, too, was shocked to see the state of the pitch.

South Africa will begin day 3 with Temba Bavuma and Corbin Bosch at the crease with the score remaining at 97/3 after 35 overs.