Shamik Chakrabarty at Eden Gardens
From a distance, the Eden Gardens pitch doesn’t look like one that will unleash a ferret down the 22 yards. “Today (Thursday), it looked a bit different from yesterday (Wednesday),” mused Shubman Gill, the India captain. India’s bragging rights over their home dominance was sullied by Tom Latham’s New Zealand last year. Temba Bavuma’s South Africa have come here as the reigning world Test champions.
Test cricket is returning to Eden after a gap of six years. In 2019, it was a pink-ball game, resplendent in Virat Kohli’s batting mastery. Much water has flown under the Howrah Bridge since. Jasprit Bumrah was a promising young fast bowler then. He is a bona fide legend now, arguably India’s greatest-ever. On Friday, the 31-year-old would be turning up for his first Test at Eden, after playing 50 matches at this level elsewhere. It’s strange, but it’s true, and that’s the way it is.
Bumrah is one of the first names on the team sheet. Kuldeep Yadav is not. The left-arm wrist-spinner ostensibly is locked in a three-way competition for a place in the playing XI. If he makes it, trumping Axar Patel and/or Akash Deep, it would be his first Test at this storied venue as well, after making his debut in 2017.
Is Gautam Gambhir a defensive coach? The question has to be asked. Gill dropped a hint at the pre-match press conference that India have been contemplating on playing an extra all-rounder at the expense of an additional spinner. “This time of the year, there’s always that conflict, whether to play an all-rounder or an extra spinner. We will decide tomorrow,” he said, keeping the options open. If Axar plays, India will go with three genuine all-rounders – Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Axar – and will have batting up to No. 9.
Do the hosts need nine batsmen in a home Test against South Africa? The Proteas have lost six of their last seven Tests in this part of the world. Have things changed drastically on the back of their World Test Championship final win over Australia? The scars of a home whitewash against the Kiwis seemingly haven’t healed yet. If Axar plays, that would be at the expense of Kuldeep. If Akash Deep is picked to form a three-pronged pace attack, once again Kuldeep would be the fall guy. India’s best spinner doesn’t deserve to be at the receiving end of such uncertainty.
For Gill, it’s a bit of homecoming. After the 2018 U-19 World Cup, Kolkata Knight Riders brought him to Eden via a lucrative contract. The teenager has grown to be the face of Indian cricket now. He has learnt to score for fun in Tests and is getting adjusted to altering his game for different formats despite short turnaround time. “I cherish a lot of memories here,” he said. “My IPL career started here and this is one ground whenever I come here, I definitely feel like how I feel at the PCA stadium when we are playing in Punjab. We are playing a (Test) match here after six years. I wasn’t part of the Test match (in 2019), but I was watching it from outside. I was part of the squad. This is my first Test match here at Eden Gardens. It is a very big honour for me to be able to lead my country here.”
The young captain is still learning the ropes and the second Test in Delhi was an eye-opener. India enforced the follow-on, but the way the Caribbeans fought back, Gill is unlikely to do it again, even if the opportunity arises. “On a wicket like that, my learning was maybe after fielding for 90 overs, we could have batted and given them the batting after that,” Gill observed, with the advantage of hindsight.
What about South Africa? Has the WTC triumph brought in a change in terms of belief, as regards shedding the dreaded C-word? “Look, I think back home, I do feel like there’s been a major shift in mindset,” said Bavuma. “From a choker’s point of view, I really don’t think that it was something that was for this team, for this group of guys. We have a lot of young guys here.”
There’s a belief in this South African side that they can do it irrespective of the conditions and situations. Chasing down a 400-plus target in the second multi-day fixture against a formidable India A bowling attack attested that confidence. As their skipper asserted: “We have started this WTC cycle with the ambition of playing the final again.”
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