India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir on Sunday backed Eden Gardens’ under-fire curator while lamenting his batters’ inability to “absorb pressure” and find a way to score runs on the challenging surface in the opening Test against South Africa.

“It was not an unplayable wicket, there were no demons,” Gambhir said at the post-match media interaction. “If you are willing to put your head down and if you have a solid defense, if you have a temperament, you can definitely score runs,” he said.