IND vs SA, 1st Test: World Champion South Africa set for strenuous India trial

For nearly 12 years, from 2012, a Test tour to India was nothing short of a Sisyphean task — a back-breaking endeavour doomed to fail.

But it all changed, just over a year ago, when a seemingly underpowered New Zealand showed the world that it is possible not just to haul the mythical stone up the hill, but even push it beyond the precipice.

And now, an eager-looking South African team, still basking in the afterglow of its coronation as World Test Champion, stands at the foothills of the very same treacherous trek.

Up in arms against the Proteas will be an almost-out-of-transition Indian side yearning for the veneer of indestructibility at home, adorned by its predecessors.

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On Friday, the two teams will begin their two-Test tussle at the Eden Gardens, in what is already promising to be a series that could end with us pondering over the truncated nature of the whole endeavour.

While both teams come into the duel on the back of extended white-ball assignments — India in Australia and South Africa in Pakistan — it wasn’t that long ago that they had a taste of red-ball cricket.

Selection dilemmas unlikely

For South Africa, the drawn series (1-1) in Pakistan last month could prove to be an ideal entry point for the Indian challenge.

South Africa’s series-levelling win in Rawalpindi was powered by its spin troika of Keshav Maharaj, Senuran Muthusamy and Simon Harmer, who combined for 17 of the 20 Pakistani wickets to fall in the Test.

With the metronomic Kagiso Rabada and the wiry Marco Jansen to boot, the Proteas bowling attack will offer the Indian batting order a rigorous assessment, on a dry Eden Gardens surface, which is expected to favour pacers early on, before shifting allegiance to the spinners.

Despite India and South Africa projecting a stable outlook, both captains, Shubman Gill and Temba Bavuma, confirmed that a decision on the final playing XI will be made only closer to the toss on Friday.

Nevertheless, aside from Bavuma’s return, the South African lineup, which bats deep much like its Indian counterpart, is unlikely to undergo any significant changes.

India, which blanked West Indies 2-0 at home in its last Test outing in October, is similarly unburdened by major selection dilemmas.

With Nitish Kumar Reddy joining the India A team for the 50-over series against South Africa A, it is all but certain that Dhruv Jurel will hold on to his spot in the playing XI, despite the return of first-choice wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who has recovered from a foot fracture sustained against England.

Despite Gill’s selection vacillation on match eve, India is expected to retain its five-man bowling attack from the West Indies series – Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar.

Blockbuster subplot

The presence of world-class talents across both lines guarantees complex battle lines. But, there is one sub-plot that seems to exist on an elevated plane – the match-up between Rabada and Bumrah, arguably the two best pacers of this generation.

Since Bumrah’s Test debut in January 2018 – coincidentally against South Africa – the two right-arm quicks have played exactly 50 Tests each, returning very similar overall stats; numbers which have elevated them to the echelons of all-time greats.

They have gone head-to-head in eight Tests, with Rabada edging out Bumrah in most metrics. In what will be their first Test clash in India, the two premier pacers will be steaming in with vigour, once again, hoping to outdo one another.

With quality in abundance, this series has all the ingredients to be an instant classic. Having last won a Test series in these shores over 25 years ago, South Africa should know the nature of the beast that awaits them. Sisyphus begins his ordeal again.

Published on Nov 13, 2025