KOLKATA: It is not often that a champion team starts off in a game as underdogs. When World Test champions South Africa take on India in the first Test of the two-match series at the Eden Gardens here from Friday, they will surely not be the favourites. That’s a tag reserved for India when they are playing at home, even if on a wicket that might provide more help to seamers than anywhere else in the country.
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Shubman Gill said on Thursday, after checking the all-important rectangle for the millionth time over three days. “Today, it looked a bit different from how it was yesterday,” he added. Now, that’s interesting. These variations might just make the team combination pendulum oscillate between spin and pace. “It tends to swing in the morning and evening in Kolkata,” Gill said. Statistics say pacers picked 75 per cent of wickets in the last four Tests. So, Kuldeep or Akash Deep?
But then, in India, spin dominates eventually. Maybe, play safe and go for Axar Patel and thus have an extra batter. After all, South Africa too have some dangerous weapons in their bowling armoury. “We’ll wait for another look tomorrow morning before deciding our playing XI,” Gill concluded.
South Africa skipper
Temba Bavuma would also wait for Friday before declaring his team. “Here in Kolkata, it swings a bit more than other parts of India, but then this is the subcontinent and you have to make sure that you have your resources from the spin point of view,” he said. “So, we’ll wait one more day.” India’s dilemma is quite understandable, given the debacle against New Zealand. Dishing out turners went against them as even a not-so-established spinner like Ajaz Patel ended up looking menacing. Sometimes, the demon you bank on can turn back and devour you. If Gill, Gautam Gambhir (head coach) and Sitanshu Kotak (batting coach) were repeatedly going back to check the pitch, holding discussions with the curators, they were perhaps trying to figure out if indeed there were any hidden demons.
“No demons out there,” South Africa coach Shukri Conrad declared after inspecting the pitch. “Just a normal Eden Gardens wicket.” His bowlers did get some swing towards the fag end of an afternoon practice session. That would be around 4 pm, when the light starts fading. Reverse swing would be a major factor too, as Gill admitted. The team managements will have to keep all permutations in mind before settling down on their playing XI.
Thursday’s net session was a lot about batting. Rishabh Pant had a lengthy session, both against pace and spin. So did Gill and KL Rahul. The skipper took Kuldeep and Axar, along with two local spinners for another net. Gambhir soon joined, speaking to Kuldeep and Axar separately. It might well be a toss-up between these two if the combination pendulum veers towards spin.
South Africa too have their batting in place, the dependable Bavuma, fluent Ryan Rickleton, elegant Tony de Zorzi and gritty Aiden Markram all spent some quality time in the nets on Thursday. This batting lineup is way stronger than that of the West Indies, India’s last Test opponents, whom they dominated over two Tests. The only worry for Gill’s team in that series was that they allowed the second Test to go to Day 5. “It was a slow wicket (in Delhi) and our spinners were not getting the zip,” Gill said. In hindsight, he admitted enforcing the follow-on was unfair on the tired bowlers and might have stretched the game. Eden would be a lot faster, with zip for spinners and swing for pacers.
Test matches always have battles within the war:
Jasprit Bumrah vs Bavuma; Kagiso Rabada vs Gill; Mohammed Siraj vs Rickleton or maybe Keshav Maharaj vs Rahul. A lot of interesting battles could be played out there over the next five days, making it a lively contest.
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