IND vs SA 1st Test: At pace-friendly Eden Gardens, spin to become factor from Day 3

Here’s what the pitch report for Eden Gardens says:

Among all the pitches in India, the pitch at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens is one that is known to be most conducive to pace. The pitch at the Eden bore what can only be described as a straw-coloured look in the lead up to the match. There is a chance that spin will become a factor from the third day of the Test, with pacers likely to have their day under the sun on the first two days.

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India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said on Wednesday that batting should be slightly easier on the pitch for the first two days.

“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,” Ryan ten Doeschate added.

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