It is not easy to deal with South AfricaImage Credit source: PTI
India vs South Africa: Test cricket is returning to the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata after a long wait of 6 years. The Test series between India and South Africa will start on this historic ground from Friday 14th November. Last time the Pink Ball Test match was played here between India and Bangladesh in 2019. There is going to be a clash between India and South Africa in Eden Gardens after 15 years. Then Team India had won that test match very easily but this time it is not going to be so easy for them and the reason for this is the ‘Triple Threat’ of South Africa. But is this a ‘triple threat’?
Let us explain it to you in detail. First of all, understand that this match to be held at Eden Gardens will be played on a pitch equally helpful for batsmen and bowlers. At least that’s what Pitch’s curator Sujan Mukherjee says. He had said in an interview that the pitch will have good bounce during the match and turn will also be available from the third day. This means that before that the path for the batsmen will be easier. But in the end, as always, this pitch will only help the spinners, as is the case here and in most of the stadiums in India.
Keshav Maharaj will take command
This nature of the pitch can also help South Africa, they just have to show some strength with the bat. If it is successful in doing this, then the spin trio of South Africa can become a challenge for Team India and this is the ‘triple threat’ which will have to be avoided. The leader of this spin trio is experienced spinner Keshav Maharaj. Maharaj has been a part of the South African team for the last many years but his form in Test cricket in the last two years has been excellent and the latest example of this was seen in the second Test on the Pakistan tour.
Maharaj took 7 wickets in the first innings of that Test played in Rawalpindi and 2 wickets in the second innings and thus helped the team win the match. Not only this, in the last two years, Maharaj has been among the best spinners in the world. In the year 2024, Maharaj took 35 wickets in 7 tests at an average of 19. This year, in just 4 tests, he has taken 19 wickets at an average of 24. Although Maharaj has taken only 6 wickets in 2 Tests in India, but this is 6 years old. This time he will be in a more dangerous rhythm.
These two spinners are no less dangerous
Apart from Maharaj, Simon Harmer and Senyuran Muthusamy can also prove fatal for Team India. Like Maharaj, left-arm spinner Muthusamy made his Test debut against India in 2019 but he has been able to play only 7 matches in 6 years. In this too, 4 Tests have come in the last one year i.e. from October 2024 till now and in this he has taken 20 wickets. Recently, during the Pakistan tour, this bowler had taken 6 wickets in the first innings of the Lahore Test and 5 wickets in the second innings.
As far as Harmer is concerned, this off-spinner, who has played only 12 Test matches, has a long experience of first class cricket. 36 year old Harmer has taken 1000 wickets in 234 first class matches. Harmer, who has taken 52 wickets in his 12 Tests, has played 2 matches in 2025 and both of these matches came during last month’s Pakistan tour. There Harmer took a total of 13 wickets in 4 innings including 6 wickets in the second innings of the Rawalpindi Test. Overall, all three spinners of South Africa are in form at the moment and this can prove to be a big disaster for Team India.