New Delhi: Indian batters will tackle a potent South African spin attack in what promises to be fascinating two-match series beginning in Kolkata from Friday.
The last time India were up against a team with decent spinners at home, they crumbled to an unprecedented 3-0 series whitewash against new Zealand.
Kiwi spinners Ajaz Patel, Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips, had shared 36 wickets among them in the three matches a year ago.
South Africa’s spin troika of Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer and Senuran Muthusamy achieved something similar in Pakistan in a two-match series, claiming 35 of the 39 wickets among them.
The visitors would hope their tweakers can reproduce that magic at Eden Gardens, making them have a “subcontinent-style attack”, according to India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate.
“They have got four spinners at their disposal, and most likely they will play three. It’s a little bit like playing against a subcontinent team. We’ve addressed that early on. Hopefully, we’ve learned from the New Zealand series,” he said.
Pitch perfect?
How the Eden Gardens pitch behaves over the five days assume significance in this scenario, even as former India skipper Sourav Ganguly insisted it won’t be a rank turner.
It would comfort Jasprit Bumrah and Kagiso Rabada, the pace ace of both teams as the Eden surface traditionally offers initial movement and late reverse swing.
Shubman Gill’s captaincy tenure began with a 2-2 draw in England, in his debut home series, the top-order batter would surely want to win the first match as margin of error is always minimal in a two-match series.
Fit-again Rishabh Pant dons the gloves while in-form Dhruv Jurel will be a specialist batter while Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja can get the nod in the spin unit.
Teams (from):
India: Shubman Gill (Capt), KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant (WK and VC), Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Devdutt Padikkal.
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (Capt), Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne, Dewald Brevis, Zubayr Hamza, Tony de Zorzi, Corbin Bosch, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Senuran Muthusamy, Kagiso Rabada, Simon Harmer.
Match starts: 9.30am IST
Broadcast on Star Sports Network
Streaming on Jiohotstar.com