sports desk1 hour ago
- copy link
The first match of the 2-Test series between India and South Africa will be played at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata from Friday, November 14. The match will start at 9:30 am, toss will take place at 9 am.
South Africa has not lost a single test under the captaincy of Temba Bavuma, but this time the team will face the challenge of India. South Africa has not won a single Test in India for the last 15 years. The team’s last win here was in 2010. After that 8 matches were played in India, in which 7 were won by the home team, while one was a draw. At the same time, as captain, Bavuma has won 9 and drawn one out of 10 test matches.
Test in Kolkata for the first time since 2019
Eden Gardens Stadium will host the Test after 6 years. The last time the Pink Ball Day-Night Test was played here between India and Bangladesh was in November 2019, in which India registered a one-sided victory.
So far 42 Tests have been played in Kolkata. The team batting first won 12 matches and the team bowling first won 10 matches. 20 matches were drawn. 3 Tests were played here between India and South Africa. India won 2 matches and South Africa won 1 match. India won both the last matches.
Margin of 2 wins in head to head
Till now, tremendous matches have been seen in Test cricket between India and South Africa. 44 Test matches were played between the two teams, in which India won 16 and South Africa won 18, while 10 matches were drawn.
At the same time, India played 19 Tests against South Africa at home, out of which it won 11 and lost 5. At the same time, 3 matches were drawn. The last Test series between the two teams was played in South Africa in 2023-24, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
Gill India’s top scorer
Indian captain Shubhman Gill is the top run scorer of the team, he has scored 979 runs in 8 matches this year with 5 centuries. He can complete his 1000 test runs this year in Kolkata test. Whereas Mohammad Siraj is the top bowler of the team with 37 wickets.
Maharaj South Africa’s top wicket taker
Wiaan Mulder has scored the most runs for South Africa in 2025. He also scored a triple century against Zimbabwe. Whereas left arm spinner Keshav Maharaj remains the top bowler of the team with 19 wickets.
Dhruv Jurel gets a chance in place of Reddy
Nitish Reddy was released from the test squad. He will be seen playing ODI from India-A against South Africa-A. Indian team’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said in the press conference on Wednesday-
We are quite clear about the team combination. The kind of performance Dhruv has performed in the last six months. Especially after scoring two centuries against South Africa A in Bengaluru last week, he will definitely play this week. Our priority is to prepare a strategy to win the match. Our position has not changed in Nitish’s case. He did not get a chance to play much in Australia, but considering the importance and conditions of this series, it is possible that he may not play in the first Test this week.
Nitish Reddy played both the Tests against West Indies, but he could not bowl much.
Toss will be done with a special coin.
A silver coin with the pictures of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela will be used during the toss in the Kolkata Test. Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) President Sourav Ganguly has said that this coin has been specially made for this series and will be used during the toss. On one side of it there are pictures of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. On the other side, Freedom Trophy will be written. Its weight is 20 grams and it will also have a layer of gold on it.
Role of pitch and weather is important
The pitch of Eden Gardens Stadium is considered balanced. Here both batsmen and bowlers get help. Most of the help comes to the batsmen, but the fast bowlers may get some swing and seam movement in the first two days of the Test. Whereas the role of spinners is expected to increase from the third day. The weather in Kolkata in November is cool and slightly humid.
According to media reports, Bengal Cricket Association curator Sujan Mukherjee said on Tuesday that turn can be expected from the third day. Both batsmen and bowlers will get help on this pitch.
Where to watch the match?
The first Test between India and South Africa will be telecast live on Star Sports Network in India. At the same time, live streaming will be available to watch on JioHotstar app and website. Along with this, you can watch LIVE coverage of the match on Bhaskar app.
Possible playing XI of both the teams
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudarshan, Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah. South Africa: Aiden Markram, Tony DeGeorge, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (captain), Dewald Brewis, Kyle Verrey (wicketkeeper), Senuran Muthusamy, Simon Harmer, Keshav Maharaj, Marco Yanson, Kagiso Rabada.
