India vs South Africa test, Conditions in Eden Gardens may be biased towards the fast bowlers at the start of the game. The imminent India vs South Africa Test in Kolkata should be exciting game of speed and patience as both the teams are ready to confront the conditions that may astonish many. Spin typically rules the story in India, although the Eden Gardens pitch can change the script – at least in the early years. As far as Indian pitches are concerned the question is not whether it will turn but when. The Eden Gardens surface however can delay turn till around day 3 and provide fast bowlers with a rare luxury to shine sooner.
The surface of the wicket is covered with even and straw colored material and the weather in Kolkata is suitable suggesting that it is in its purest and is well suited to bat on in the first innings, and then slowly wears away as the match progresses. Both the teams are likely to enter with three spinners in the game but the opening phases might be dominated by the seamers only.
There is no better way of putting it than by what the assistant coach to India Ryan ten Doeschate said It is a fine wicket, and will spin later on, but in the early stages such an opening has to be made by our seamers. What he says is what might occur in the India vs South Africa Test; an overture of swing and seam before spin is said to take over.
The new ball could dance in the breeze blowing out of the neighboring Hooghly River as well as under the covers where moisture was trapped overnight. Not to mention that there could be reverse swing later in the innings and it is not hard to predict that Rohit Sharma and Temba Bavuma will not neglected the concept of relying on their pace units.
India has established its domestic supremacy on spin; however, history reveals that Eden Gardens is unusually generous of fast bowlers. Here pacers have an average of only 27.44 runs per wicket and this is the best of all Indian Test venues since 2010.
A number of pace masterclasses have been witnessed in this ground. Here, Umesh Yadav has seven wickets in 2011, James Anderson and Steven Finn reversed influence of swing in 2012 once and Mohammed Shami scored his first 9 for in 2013 against West Indies.
It is now time to see another world premier fast bowling duel Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj against South Africa Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, and Gerald Coetzee against India. As the new ball is set to fly and the pitch will provide a grip in future, the two pace attacks can determine the first few exchanges.
The coach of South Africa Shukri Conrad thinks that his quicks can change things. Everyone will talk of spin in India, everyone will get something to the fast bowers at Eden Gardens, he said.
There is nothing wrong with that optimism. The Proteas are tougher than in the 2019 whitewash humiliation, with Rabada, Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer, which should be supplemented by the versatility of all-rounder Marco Jansen.
Nevertheless, the quicks in India are considered as the standard in the domestic situation. Their capability to assault on the stumps, take advantage of reverse swing and their unsettling pressure have severed them again and again with visiting counterparts. The seamers in India performed better than the South African sealers in the year 2019 with nearly twice the number of new-ball wickets.
However, on this occasion, the Proteas stands a better position to change. When their pacers are in the same position to match that of the Indians as of the initial stages, the India vs South Africa Test could turn out to be one of the most level-headed ones over the past few years.
In the case of the two teams, the message is not hard, make it through the fast bowlers and then worry about spin. It may be a strength to put in wicket at the beginning of the stand, should the openers be able to weather through. The first two days can record huge totals and it will create a fourth inning challenge later at the time when the pitch begins to stick and break.
Assistant coach ten Doeschate referred to it as a genuine Test wicket, one where there is no single skill, be it method of batting, control over pace and mastery over spin, that is not put to the test. This is hardly the case with Test cricket in these days and is what makes which is why the India vs South Africa Test at Eden Gardens is so tempting.
The India South Africa Test in Eden Gardens presents a match of equals, two robust pace unit, two premier spin units and line-ups that boast of world-renowned talent. Early swing, reverse in the middle and late spin will make sure that each session will seem a new chapter.
There have been iconic moments in the history of Kolkata and this Test has potential of onixing another one. To the fans, it is a dream set up, fast bowlers trying at early wickets, spinners awaiting their moment and batters struggling to maintain some control on a surface that changes with each ball.
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