Four days before the opening Test of the two-match series against South Africa in Kolkata, the Indian team held an optional training session at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday. Only few players were spotted, including captain Shubman Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir, who reached Kolkata on Monday following a long flight from Australia, where India had recently finished a T20I series.
After the three-hour practice session, which saw only seven players in attendance while Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Devdutt Padikkal, and Axar Patel gave it a miss, the coaching staff assembled at the centre of the pitch for an extended inspection.
As per a PTI report, Shubman Gill and bowling coach Morne Morkel looked at the surface to assess its firmness, and judging by their reaction, “the management did not appear entirely pleased with the surface.” Gill called pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee over for a 15-minute discussion. The pitch, which hadn’t been watered for a week, appeared dry and brown with a few light patches of grass.
After South Africa wrapped up their spin-heavy training session, newly appointed CAB president Sourav Ganguly visited the centre to inspect the pitch personally and held a discussion with curator Sujan Mukherjee. While the main surface remained dry, the ground staff watered the adjoining squares, later in the evening. Ganguly revealed that India did not request a ‘rank turner’
The iconic Eden Gardens has already hosted two Ranji Trophy matches this season, where fast bowlers Mohammed Shami and Akash Deep initially found it tough on the first day but later gained control once reverse swing began to assist them.
South African team boasts a strong balance of pace and spin options. Their pace attack led by Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen, while the spin trio of Simon Harmer (13 wickets), Senuran Muthusamy (11), and Keshav Maharaj (9) played a key role in leveling the series against Pakistan last month, combining for 33 wickets. Muthusamy, who also contributed 106 runs, was named Player of the Series.
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