India vs South Africa 1st Test: India head into the first Test with renewed confidence and a changed squad. Led by Shubman Gill, they have a mix of established match-winners with promising youngsters. After a dominant win against the West Indies, India will be aiming to extend their strong home run.
The return of Rishabh Pant strengthens the middle order, while Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj form a potent bowling unit. Despite some concerns about the pitch at Eden Gardens, India are confident that seam movement early on and spin later on will play to their strengths.
South Africa are the world Test champions and a team keen to end their long wait to win a series in India. Led by Temba Bavuma, they bring a balanced attack featuring the pace of Kagiso Rabada and the experienced spin duo of Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer. Their main challenge will be to bat against India’s new ball threat. If Aiden Markram and the rest of the top order can survive the initial spell, South Africa’s bowlers can keep the competition going for five days.
India vs South Africa 1st Test Session Times, Day 1: What are the session times for India and South Africa?
The first day’s play is scheduled to resume at 9:30 AM IST/6:00 AM AST. The day’s proceedings are expected to continue till 4:30 PM IST/1:00 PM AST.
Note: All times shown are in Indian Standard Time (IST) and South African Standard Time (SAST) is mentioned in brackets.
- First Session 09:30 AM – 11:30 AM 06:00 AM – 08:00 AM
- Lunch 11:30 AM – 12:10 PM 08:00 AM – 08:40 AM
- Second Session 02:10 PM 08:40 AM – 10:40 AM
- Tea 02:10 PM – 02:30 PM 10:40 AM – 11:00 AM
- Third Session 02:30 AM – 04:30 PM 11:00 AM – 01:00 PM
Team: India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Axar Patel, Devdutt Padikkal, Akash Deep.
South Africa squad: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (c), Tony de Georgie, Dewald Brevis, Kyle Vereen (wk), Simon Harmer, Marco Janssen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Corbin Bosh, Senuran Muthusamy, Zubairul, M Zubair.