India bank on old recipe of spin and first-innings heft against South Africa

NEW DELH: India will look to reprise their home template of big first-innings totals and sustained spin in the short two-Test series against South Africa beginning in Kolkata on Friday.

Shubman Gill’s side sit third in the World Test Championship rankings after beginning their 2025-27 cycle with a 2-2 draw in England followed by a 2-0 sweep at home against West Indies.

Reigning world champions South Africa forced a 1-1 draw in Pakistan but the squad, despite being bolstered by the return of their fit-again skipper Temba Bavuma, can expect a sterner Test in the eastern Indian cities of Kolkata and Guwahati.

India will back their top order to counter the new-ball threat posed by South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada-led pace battery.

In India’s formidable top order, Yashasvi Jaiswal’s belligerence complements the calmness of his opening partner KL Rahul or captain Gill.

Their middle order has been reinforced by the return of their first-choice wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, also creating a selection dilemma in the process.

In Pant’s absence, Dhruv Jurel impressed both with the bat and gloves against West Indies, making it difficult to drop him.

As for dealing with the likes of Aiden Markram and Tony de Zorzi, India would hope a combination of spin, low bounce and reverse swing would once again do the trick.

Jasprit Bumrah’s mastery both with the new and old ball will thoroughly Test South Africa, who have arrived with eight players with no experience of playing a Test in India.

Bavuma and his batting colleagues will also be wary of India’s left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who appears to have finally found his groove and backing from his team in the long format.

The selection of three specialist spinners and batter Zubayr Hamza suggests the importance of spin is not lost on South Africa, who remain upbeat about their chances.

“There’s a real hunger and desire to beat India in India,” spin spearhead Keshav Maharaj told reporters on Tuesday.

“It’s probably one of the toughest tours, if not the toughest tour, on the Proteas calendar through various generations and some people were fortunate enough to cross the hurdle.”

“It will be a wonderful opportunity to grade ourselves, to see how far we’ve come. Slowly but surely, we started to conquer other parts of the subcontinent, and I feel like this is one assignment that we really, really want to take.”