To be fair to Harbahjan, he never suggested it was a designer pitch, and also gave credit where it was due. "We were quite prepared to play on a good track, but unfortunately with the rain and stuff it was quite a damp wicket," he said. "The toss was very crucial to this match. We lost the toss. They bowled well in the given conditions, and they got the rewards. If we had won the toss, I think we would have done the same thing. We would have bowled first, then who knows what would have happened."
The bad news for India is that Harbhajan doesn't expect similar assistance from the pitch later on in the Test. "I don't know how long it will help the seamers," he said. "But definitely there is a lot of movement after pitching, swinging and cutting both ways, because it is damp. If we get the sun tomorrow, obviously it will play a lot better than it did today. That's what I think. I could be wrong.
"We are playing on a wet wicket where the ball is seaming or nipping. A warm-up game would have been on a perfect cricketing wicket. You can't complain about wickets, but we need to make sure we come back into the game."
The bad news for India is that Harbhajan doesn't expect similar assistance from the pitch later on in the Test. "I don't know how long it will help the seamers," he said. "But definitely there is a lot of movement after pitching, swinging and cutting both ways, because it is damp. If we get the sun tomorrow, obviously it will play a lot better than it did today. That's what I think. I could be wrong.
"We are playing on a wet wicket where the ball is seaming or nipping. A warm-up game would have been on a perfect cricketing wicket. You can't complain about wickets, but we need to make sure we come back into the game."
Gandhi was from Porbandar, for those who don't know.