The right pitch: Eden Gardens in Nov can keep batters on the edge

According to the ground staff, spinners should expect turn from Day 3 of the first India-SA Test match

- Somshuvra Laha

South Africa walked out to bat at 9 am in the Calcutta smog in front of a record 90,800 people and hobbled their way to 17/8 in 47 overs. The buzz created by a world record crowd could have ‘overwhelmed anybody, but also at work were late autumn elements — the nip in the air, the sun trying to break through the clouds and cook the early morning dew, making the handstitched leather ball swing prodigiously. Thirty four years on, the first hour of the morning session remains as intriguingly unpredictable.

It's the first of many subplots that have always made an Eden Gardens Test in November very interesting, The sun sets earlier in this part of the country so the post-lunch session becomes tricky after three o'clock once the shadows cast by the stands at the High Court End get longer. And while the breeze flowing in from the nearby Hooghly river may not be as unhindered as it was 20 years ago, it does make seamers make a beeline for the High Court End so that they can bowl with the wind.

The first innings at Eden Gardens can be a telling indication here. Barring the West Indies Test in 2011 where India declared at 631/7, not a single first innings score since 2010 has crossed 316, the lowest being 106 by Bangladesh in the Pink Ball Test of 2019.