Hosts India succumbed to a shocking 30-run defeat at the hands of South Africa at Eden Gardens in Kolkata despite being on top after the first two days of the Test match. India did decently with the ball but were an absolute flop show with bat in hand as they couldn’t score even 100 runs in the 4th innings. The pitch was a torcher and was not ideal by any means but still saying so India should have won, but they failed to cross the final hurdle. There were many areas where India was exposed brutally and we will try and give three reasons for their loss in Kolkata.
Batting Unit Failing As A Whole to Spin
India’s batting left a lot to be desired albeit on a difficult track as the hosts once again struggled on rank turners. In the first innings, after restricting South Africa to 159, people would have hoped India take a good lead. But they only managed a 30-run lead getting bundled out for 189. But it was their performance in the second innings that really worried the fans.
Chasing 124 for the win, India lost their two openers early to pacer Marco Jansen. Thereafter, the spinners took over as India had no clue how to play quality spinners. Wickets were lost at regular intervals as India lacked a constant and consistent partnership out there. Washington Sundar showed some resistance and held one end up but the Indians were clueless against spin especially the off-spin of Simon Harmer. Axar Patel played a cameo towards the end while Jadeja tried for a while, but it was a bridge too far for this side.
India’s batting in rank turners is a disaster but still these types of pitches get prepared which makes it a disadvantage for the home team. But if the Indian team continues to play on these kind of wickets, then India have to go a long way in improving their performance against spin bowling and come up with better plans against the quality spinners. These type of performances will take the team further down and lose confidence as well.
Questionable Team Selection Haunts India
Another possible reason why India endured this shocking defeat was the team selection picked by the Indian team management. India inexplicably went with loads of all-rounders and only three proper batters in KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal and captain Shubman Gill. India had two wicket-keepers in Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel. India had four spinners and out of which three were spin bowling all-rounders.
Washington Sundar it seemed played at Number 3 in both the innings and bowled only one over in the Test match. Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja bowled well but one felt a proper batter would have been useful for India. India decided to drop specialist player Sai Sudharsan and played Washington Sundar at Number 3 which was also a blunder to say the least although Washington did decently at that number at 3 compared to his contemporaries.
Test Cricket is a game where there is a method to go about it and not experiments for the sake of it. But India under Gautam Gambhir has made the Number 3 spot a laughing stock as any player under the sun is batting at that number. Number 3 is an important and fixed number and should be given to a specialist. But Gautam has other ideas and he believes in batting anyone at Number 3. This is hurting the Indians in scoring runs.
Somehow, this has to stop and India have to settle in on a combination in order to do well. The road ahead will be steep and India won’t find it easy at all in the second Test match in Guwahati either. Playing on rank turners requires skill and temperament and right selection of personell, but India lacks in this vision and must improve to get the right results.
Shubman Gill’s absence and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s twin failures hurts India
One of the other contributing factors behind this loss was the absence of Shubman Gill as captain and batter and also the twin rare failure of Yashasvi Jaiswal in this Test match. Shubman Gill came out to bat in the first innings and got off the mark with a boundary before neck spasms aggravated and forced him to go off the field retired hurt. Thereafter, he had to be hospitalised for precautionary measures and was in ICCU. He was later released and returned to the hotel.
But Gill’s absence for the remainder of the first innings meant South Africa restricted India to 189 and kept the lead down to 30 runs. Thereafter, India missed the leader Gill on the field although Pant did a decent job in keeping South Africa to 153 and setting 124 for the win. But Gill the batter was definitely missed as his presence and contribution might have tilted the scales in favour of India. But he was in hospital when the Indian team folded and watched on with disbelief for sure.
Yashasvi Jaiswal would have wanted to contribute with bat in hand. But it was a rare Test match where Jaiswal failed with the bat. India depends a lot on Jaiswal to fire and give the team a solid start. But he failed to so getting out for a duck in the second innings when it really mattered. He got a bit of a start in the first innings. Jaiswal will be keen to get back into form and score runs for India and India needs him to deliver in the second and final Test if India are to level the series 1-1. More often than not, Jaiswal scoring runs helps India to win contest.
What Lies AheadÂ
South Africa have taken a 1-0 lead in this 2-match Test series after beating India by 30 runs in Kolkata. The bandwagon for the second and final Test moves to Guwahati on 22nd November, 2025 at 9 AM IST and it is the debut Test match in Guwahati. South Africa will want to seal the series with a win and win it 2-0 while India will be desperate to win the match and level the series 1-1.
Let’s see how things pan out in Guwahati as it will be an earlier start to the proceedings in the North East with a 9 AM Start and Tea Break happening before Lunch. A fascinating battle awaits us in Guwahati.
Also Read:Â IND VS SA: South Africa Produces An Inspiring Bowling Display To Skittle India And Go 1-0 Up In Series.