Unlike any other Indian venue, the Eden Gardens in Kolkata offers a rare opportunity for pacers to unleash their skills on the 22-yard strip. As India and South Africa square off in the first Test of the 2-match series, starting Friday, pacers are expected to play a much bigger role in deciding the fate of the game than they do on any other venue across the country. The Eden Gardens pitch for the 1st India vs South Africa Test is expected to start firm and batting-friendly with seam movement for pacers in the first two days, before gradually breaking down to assist spinners heavily from Day 3 onwards.
With clear skies, the two teams and fans can expect uninterrupted play throughout the five days. Among Indian venues, Kolkata's Eden Gardens stands out as the pitch most favourable to pace bowling. In the build-up to the match, the surface carried a distinct straw-coloured appearance, hinting at lively conditions for fast bowlers.
While seamers are expected to dominate during the opening two days under the sun, spin is likely to come into play from the third day onward as the pitch begins to wear.
"We are going to be relying a lot on our seamers to make early inroads in the first couple of days. And I guess that's what you want from a really good Test wicket, where it's not just reliant on one of the facets being too important to the game. But I do think spin is going to be important on this pitch in the long run," India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate had said in the press conference on Wednesday.
India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Axar Patel, Devdutt Padikkal, Akash Deep
South Africa Squad: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma(c), Tony de Zorzi, Dewald Brevis, Kyle Verreynne(w), Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Corbin Bosch, Senuran Muthusamy, Zubayr Hamza, Wiaan Mulder