Shamik Chakrabarty at Eden Gardens
If Jasprit Bumrah doesn’t get you, Kuldeep Yadav or Mohammed Siraj must. South Africa have come here as the reigning world Test champions. The second ball of the first Test at Eden Gardens rolled along the surface. The very next delivery reared off a length. Welcome to India.
There’s hardly any better sight in red-ball cricket than Bumrah in full flow. When he makes the ball talk, cricket becomes music with the lightness of his craft. To borrow a phrase from Manchester United match-goers on Cristiano Ronaldo, and paraphrase it, Bumrah moved the ball left, he moved it right, and made the South African batsmen look s***. His 16th five-for in Tests came via figures of 14-5-27-5. A turnout of 36,500 at this storied venue was privileged to witness a master at work. This was Bumrah’s first Test at Eden. He sauntered on to the honours’ board.
India’s team selection offered the surprise of Washington Sundar batting at No. 3, at the expense of Sai Sudharsan. With Axar Patel playing, the hosts went with four spinners – Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington and Axar. The last time something like this happened was way back in 2012, when India went in with a four-pronged spin attack of Ravichandran Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha and Jadeja against England in Nagpur. Ojha is a national selector now.
Shubman Gill yet again lost the toss. It’s now 7-1, with just one win in Delhi, and at this rate, the India captain will defy the Probability Theory. Never mind, all is well as long as he is winning the games, and after bundling out South Africa for 159 in their first innings, India are in a great position to dominate this Test.
South Africa showed intent from the outset and raced to 57 for no loss after 10 overs. Then, the game started to change via a jaffa from Bumrah. The ball landed on off and moved away late and a shade to force Ryan Rickelton play down the wrong line. Timber!
Aiden Markram got the ball of the day from Bumrah – the delivery rearing off a length after landing on off. It was unplayable. Gill brought on Kuldeep from the other end and he accounted for Temba Bavuma in the leg-trap, with Dhruv Jurel taking a sharp catch at leg slip. India were tightening the noose.
They rolled over the Proteas in the second session. Kuldeep’s leg-break caught Wiaan Mulder plumb in front, with the batsman attempting a reverse-sweep, and Bumrah out-thought Tony de Zorzi to trap him leg-before. Then, Siraj did course correction and bowled a brilliant third spell. Kyle Verreynne was beaten by pace and movement and Marco Jansen was done in by reverse swing to give the fast bowler another ‘Siuuu’ moment. His figures in that spell read: 6-0-13-2.
Bumrah returned to clean up the tail and complete his five-for. After the England series, where he made himself available only for three Tests, he was told, according to sources, that picking and choosing wouldn’t be an option going ahead. Bumrah has featured in the Asia Cup, the home Tests against West Indies, the T20Is in Australia and, now, the Test series against South Africa, despite little turnaround time. His body is working fine. He is the Koh-i-Noor of Indian cricket and the criticism he copped, especially for not playing the fifth Test against England at The Oval, was uncalled for.
India finished the day on 37/1. Yashasvi Jaiswal became a little too adventurous and looking back, he would admit that the delivery from Jansen was too close to cut. The pitch will take more turn as the match progresses. But India’s finger spinners – Jadeja and Axar – didn’t look menacing on Day 1. South Africa don’t have a wrist-spinner in their ranks.
Brief scores: South Africa 159 in 55 overs (Aiden Markram 31, Jasprit Bumrah 5/27, Kuldeep Yadav 2/36, Mohammed Siraj 2/47) vs India 37/1 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 13 batting, Washington Sundar 6 batting; Marco Jansen 1/11).
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