KOLKATA: The grass in the outfield has been trimmed, the final billboard is going up and the nuts, bolts and nails are being placed in their rightful positions. On the morning before the morning of a big series, Eden Gardens is gradually ensuring that things are being put in place ahead of a short but fascinating two-match Test series against the world champions and the hardest standalone assignment this format of the game can offer: winning a series in India.
Temba Bavuma said as much in the pre-match press conference but India do not have the same veneer of invincibility they possessed, say, in 2019 when the visitors came here last. That was the apogee of India's home dominance when their batters piled on the runs on batting decks before the pacers used their nous to flatten the visitors across the series. Of course, it kind of helped that the Proteas lost the toss on all three occasions but Faf du Plessis & Co. didn't get a sniff.
The victory margins read: 203 runs (1st Test; Visakhapatnam), an innings and 137 runs (Pune) and an innings and 202 runs (Ranchi). R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja split 28 wickets but the hosts were turbocharged because Umesh Yadav (11 wickets at 12.18) and Mohammed Shami (13 wickets at 14.76) used local advantage for maximum impact. In that series, Rabada (seven wickets at 40.71), Vernon Philander (two wickets at 77.5) and Anrich Nortje (one wicket at 179) were dealt with.
But that was 2019. A new generation are finding their way in the game, players eager to leave behind their own legacy. It's why this will be a stern test for Shubman Gill & Co. The support staff and the leadership group know they have a big fight on their hands if they are to keep their slate clean over the next two weeks.
Kuldeep or Axar
One of the biggest decisions the team will face with regards to team combination is to opt between Kuldeep Yadav's uniqueness or Axar Patel's surety both in terms of runs and control. With Washington Sundar offering batting depth as well as drift and control, the choice may boil to whether the hosts err on the side of caution or whether they prefer to attack more.
The Proteas have played Yadav in white-ball cricket but they have yet to play him in Tests, something Bavuma mentioned (you can argue it's the same against Patel but facing a left-arm fingerspinner is not the same as playing a left-arm wristspinner). In the pre-match press conference, Gill let it slip that the decision of playing the extra all-rounder or the additional spinner will be made on Friday morning when the question put to him was whether they would be tempted to play the additional seamer over an extra spinner.
Both Patel and Yadav spent a long time batting in the nets on Thursday but that doesn't mean anything. But Bavuma said he would be happier not facing Yadav on this deck at Eden Gardens. "I would rather face him in the A game (he played Yadav in the tour game in Bengaluru last week)," the skipper said. "He's not a massive turner of the ball but he can obviously deceive you off the wicket. Definitely a guy who's a wicket-taker."
If that's the biggest question mark in the bowling line-up, the batting line-up picks itself. Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Gill, Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel will be the nucleus of the line-up but they won't enjoy the freedom they were given against the West Indies last month.
Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen are ace operators with the new and old ball while the trio of Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer and Senuran Muthusamy know they have what it takes to challenge the hosts.
And, ultimately, it will come down to a test between India's batters and the visiting spinners. In 2024, when the Kiwis blanked the hosts 3-0, it was as a result of their spinners enjoying immense success on some admittedly spin-friendly decks.
If India can resist that challenge, Gill & Co. know they will have taken baby steps towards creating another fortress.
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