If India really want to reap the benefits of preparing turning tracks, they'll need to find better ways to bat on them, writes Naman Agarwal from the Eden Gardens.
Howrah station – one of the busiest railway stations on the planet – is well connected to the Eden Gardens, on the opposite bank of the Hooghly, through a ferry service. A large part of the Eden crowd during matches pours in through these two efficient systems. On matchdays, by the time you arrive at the jetty on the Howrah side of the river, the mood of the crowd usually gives you a fair sense of the state of the game.
On the second morning, the vibe was both cheerful and relaxed. People discussed what lead India would require to not bat again after bowling South Africa out for 159 on the first day. Predictions were being made on who would score a hundred, with KL Rahul and Shubman Gill coming out as the top contenders.
As it turned out, 16 wickets fell on the day, and no Indian batter reached 40, let alone a hundred.
The first hour’s play had been pretty sedate. Keshav Maharaj operated with guile but without success from the High Court End and the seamers alternated from the Club House End. India meandered along at 2.2 runs per over, looking content to bide their time. And then Simon Harmer arrived.
Harmer’s last Test series before he signed the Kolpak deal (that cut him off from international cricket) was South Africa’s 2015 tour of India. His 10 wickets in two Tests a decade back had flown under the radar, as R Ashwin took 31 and Ravindra Jadeja 23.
Today, all it took him was one ball to plant seeds of doubt on the Indian batters’ minds. And two to turn those doubts into an uncomfortably familiar reality.
A familiar collapse against spin
The first ball sharply spun from the center of the pitch across Sundar’s bat to beat the off stump by a whisker. The second caught the edge and went into slip’s hand.
It appeared as if that sequence flicked a switch in the Indian camp.
Shubman Gill walked out and slog swept Harmer’s third ball for four (unfortunately spraining his neck in the process and retiring hurt). KL Rahul, batting on 27 off 105, the epitome of patience thus far, stepped out and lofted Keshav Maharaj for six down the ground. Rishabh Pant, batting on one, got a reprieve at slip and hit the next ball for six against the turn.
With Pant, it wasn’t uncharacteristic, but the trend continued even as wickets kept falling, signalling a team-wide initiative to step on the pedal.
Rahul’s dismissal brought in Jadeja. Usually a slow-starter, he swept his second ball, off Harmer, for four. Pant was out a trademark slog and a reverse sweep later, which brought in Jurel, who pulled Corbin Bosch for a first-ball boundary as well.
The game moved at the rate of knots, in sharp contrast to the first hour, all triggered by one ball that spun sharply past the bat. From 75-1 in 34 overs, India were bowled out for 189 in 62.2.
Harmer and Maharaj shared five of the nine wickets, accounting for the cream of the Indian batting and keeping the lead down to 30. India bowling coach Morne Morkel conceded at the end of play that they “could have scored 50-60 more there”.
1st Test, India vs South Africa
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By itself, India’s collapse could be dismissed as a bad day in challenging conditions which might not even hurt them by the end of the game. But their frailties at the sight of quality spin, on surfaces prepared to aid said quality spin, have been lying exposed for a while.
It began against Australia in the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where Nathan Lyon (22 wickets at 22) and the debuting Todd Murphy (14 wickets at 25) put the Indian top order under consistent pressure, snatching a game and threatening to claim another. England ran India close in 2024, even if the final scoreline of 4-1 wouldn’t suggest so. And it culminated in a historic whitewash at the hands of New Zealand last year, where the visiting spinners (37 wickets at 23) outbowled India’s (44 wickets at 24).
Attack is the best defense - or is it?
Surfaces in the WTC era have been spicier in general, and under the current management, India have tried to counter that by going harder with the bat. Against New Zealand, they scored at 4.16 runs per over compared to New Zealand’s 3.66. Today, India’s run rate jumped from 2.20 before Sundar’s wicket to 4.02 after.
Also read: India’s home dominance was founded on good batting tracks – so why do they now turn so much?
It’s a plausible approach whose productivity rises and falls with the extremity of the conditions. But India have been employing it far too generously without trusting their defensive game enough when the going gets tough.
As the day progressed and the pitch crumbled, India’s spinners expectedly ran through the South African batting, taking six wickets in the last session. Jadeja got it to turn square from the middle of the pitch and was aided by the extra bounce from the Club House End that Harmer enjoyed. And yet, in the middle of the chaos, Temba Bavuma resisted.
The South Africa captain smothered the turn when he could, used the depth of the crease when he had to, and gave a practical demonstration that defense could still be the best defense, even in tough conditions. It threw India’s batting approach into sharper focus: when Harmer and Maharaj applied pressure, they had responded with adrenaline, not adjustment.
Leading by 63 with three wickets in hand, South Africa still have an outside chance of taking that number beyond 100. The effect of the roller in the morning could allow them some breathing space from the now spitting surface, and if they get anywhere close to 150, it could even end up being a winning score. Which is how Harmer visualised day three going: “Cricket’s a funny game, you know. We could be sitting here tomorrow night, (with a) completely different story. South Africa managed to get to 150 and bowl India out for 80.”
Harmer’s optimism drew some chuckles in the press conference room, but he was quick to come up with a warning: “You can laugh about it now but ‘he who cries first, laughs last’. We’ll see how it goes.”
Just last year, India had floundered a chase of 147 on a turning track against quality spinners. Perhaps the chuckles were misplaced.
Either way, for India, the larger question stretches beyond the next 24 hours. If they want to keep preparing surfaces that maximises the threat of the world-class spinners they possess, they must also rediscover a sustainable method with the bat, one that makes these pitches a competitive advantage and not a lottery. Otherwise, as Harmer hinted with a smile, India will keep running the risk of laughing early, and crying late.
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