Stakes high in Guwahati as India-South Africa Test series receives its climactic moment

Test cricket in India will breach new frontiers, as the ACA Stadium in Guwahati hosts the second match against South Africa, starting on Saturday.

With this, the stadium in Barsapara, perched in a valley wrapped by rolling hills, will become the first venue in North-East India – and the 30th in the country overall – to host a Test match.

Travelling this far east of the country, in this time of the year, necessitates some scheduling oddities in the rigidity of Test cricket. Considering the early sunrise and sunset here, the match is scheduled to start at 9 AM, while Tea will be taken before Lunch in an effort to salvage playing hours.

While these curiosities are attention-worthy in themselves, the bigger picture will remain the series at stake.

Following a confidence-surging win in Kolkata, South Africa has within its reach a historic Test series win in India, a first in over 25 years.

Also read | Captain Rishabh Pant wants to give players freedom and keep emotions in check

For India, any slip-up in Guwahati would consign it to its second home Test series defeat in just over a year. It is a fate very few would have foreseen, considering the dominance India enjoyed in its backyard until recently.

Making the challenge even harder for India would be the fact that the conditions in Guwahati are as novel to it as it is to South Africa.

Among the current Indian squad, only one player has played a First-Class game at this venue – Mohammed Siraj, who turned out for Hyderabad in a Ranji Trophy match against Himachal Pradesh in 2016.

No positives on the injury front

India would also be without skipper Shubman Gill, who, to no one’s surprise, was ruled out of the Test due to the neck spasm he suffered during the series opener.

Gill’s replacement, though, remains anyone’s guess, with the Indian team management choosing to keep its cards close to its chest on match eve.

What is certain, though, is that Rishabh Pant will step in as the skipper, making him only the second Indian wicketkeeper to captain India in Tests, after MS Dhoni.

While Pant remained non-committal on the team combination during the pre-match press conference, there were hints from India’s optional practice session on Friday.

Among the three Indian players who turned up for training, only openers KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal had a knock in the nets.

The other Indian player was B Sai Sudharsan, who stayed away from the outdoor nets but was seen shadow batting, without his shoes on, at the centre square. It is a pre-match ritual that the left-handed batter was seen doing during the England series, ahead of games where he was part of the playing XI.

Pant also highlighted that India has taken into account the problem of having an excess of left-handers in its batting order, which worked to the benefit of South African off-spinner Simon Harmer in Kolkata.

This could mean that if Sudharsan makes the cut, right-handed all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy would also find a spot in the XI.

Nitish, who will also offer a pace-bowling option, would likely come in at the expense of left-handed all-rounder Axar Patel, who picked just two wickets in Kolkata.

Also read | Bavuma expects Guwahati surface to behave like a typical subcontinental one

South Africa, too, was denied a positive update on the injury front, after lead pacer Kagiso Rabada failed to recover from a rib injury he sustained in the lead-up to the Kolkata Test.

While the visiting side will be tempted to retain its winning combination, it also has the option of bringing in Lungi Ngidi if it wants to bolster its pace battery.

Pitch it up

The cacophony caused by the behaviour (or misbehaviour) of the Eden Gardens pitch has been persistent and has even encroached on the buildup towards the second Test.

The Guwahati surface, though, appears to be a less volatile variant. On offer is a red-soil pitch, which was seen with a smattering of grass on match eve, hinting at a Test that should last at least four days.

Both captains, Temba Bavuma and Pant, said that they expect the batters to find some runs, at least in the first two days, before spin takes its hold.

With an early start and the resultant added moisture in effect, the first hour of every day’s play would become a critical passage, bringing both sets of pacers to the fore.

The conditions hint towards a drawn-out battle, with all stakeholders – pacers, spinners and batters – expected to have a say in the proceedings.

Ultimately, the only guarantee is that, on this previously unexplored terrain, under peculiar playing conditions, this brief yet immensely engrossing Test series will receive its climactic moment.

Published on Nov 21, 2025