Shubman Gill raises big concern during practice session ahead of the first Test against South Africa

The Indian team had an optional practice at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday, which is just four days before the first Test of the two-match series against South Africa. There were not many players but still the Indian skipper Shubman Gill was there. Only seven players made it to the session, which was held for three hours, with quite a few regulars – including Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Devdutt Padikkal and Axar Patel – resting.

After practice ended, the coaching staff took a long, hard look at the pitch in the middle. According to a PTI report, Gill, along with bowling coach Morne Morkel, checked how hard the surface was, after which he summoned pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee for a 15-minute chat.

“the management did not appear entirely pleased with the surface.” as per the PTI report

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The strip looked dry and brown, with little grass visible and no signs of recent watering it had apparently not been touched for the last week.

Later in the evening, the South African team conducted their own spin-based practice session, which was followed by a visit from newly elected CAB president Sourav Ganguly as he came to have a look at the pitch himself. He too had a brief chat with Sujan Mukherjee. Although the main surface was dry, the ground staff watered the practice pitches adjacent to it. Ganguly denied that India wanted a “rank turner.”

In this season Eden Gardens has hosted two Ranji Trophy games and on both occasions Mohammed Shami and Akash Deep found little assistance upfront, they got a fair chance to exploit the conditions in their favour.

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The visitors already have a well-rounded attack with quality pace and spin options. Fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen lead the charge while the spinners consist of Simon Harmer, Senuran Muthusamy, and Keshav Maharaj. This trio of spinners shared 33 wickets between them in the series against Pakistan and helped South Africa clinch a series draw.