No rank turner requested for South Africa Test: Ganguly

Kolkata, Nov 10 (PTI) The Indian team management has not asked for a rank turner for the opening Test of the two-match series against South Africa beginning at the Eden Gardens on Friday, Cricket Association of Bengal president Sourav Ganguly said on Monday.

India head coach Gautam Gambhir, who arrived late on Sunday along with members of the team that played the white-ball series in Australia, inspected the Eden pitch on Monday morning along with batting coach Sitanshu Kotak.

Ganguly, too, had a look at the wicket later in the evening after which the entire square was covered to protect it from dew or any unlikely showers.

"Well, they haven’t asked for it yet. So, I won’t be able to answer the question. It looks a very good one," Ganguly said when asked if the Indian team management had requested for a turning wicket.

The Eden Gardens has hosted two Ranji Trophy matches so far this season, and the tracks have played on the slower side, offering little assistance to pacers.

The pace-heavy Bengal attack found it tough to make inroads against Uttarakhand on the opening day of their fixture before Mohammed Shami's magical spell turned around Bengal's fortunes.

The pitch, incidentally, has not been watered since Saturday, but CAB curator Sujan Mukherjee expressed satisfaction with its preparation. He said Gambhir was also "happy to see the wicket" during his inspection.

According to Mukherjee, the India head coach had enquired when the pitch might start assisting spinners, and he responded that turn could be expected "from day three." Historically too, the Eden has never been a rank-turner and becomes batting-friendly after offering some assistance in the first hour's play.

"It’s going to be a good sporting wicket with help for both batters and bowlers. There will be assistance on offer for the spinners as well, and that can happen early as well,” Mukherjee said.

The reigning World Test Champions, South Africa, boast a strong spin attack led by left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, with off-spinner Simon Harmer and left-armer Senuran Muthusamy providing support. The trio impressed during their recent drawn 1-1 Test series against Pakistan.

The Indian team think-tank will also have in mind the lessons from their defeat to New Zealand last year, when Mitchell Santner’s 13-wicket haul powered the Black Caps to a 113-run win in the second Test in Pune, resulting in their first-ever Test series triumph in India.

With the Eden Gardens hosting a Test match after six years, the host association also would not like to take chances.

The last Test here was India’s first-ever day-night Test against Bangladesh in November 2019.

The CAB is planning to make the occasion memorable.

Ganguly said ticket sales have been encouraging at least for the first three days.

"Thirty-four thousand priced tickets have been sold out as we expect a good turnout,” he said.

The CAB will also host the Dalmiya Memorial Lecture on the eve of the match, where batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has confirmed his participation as keynote speaker.

To commemorate the historic series, a special coin featuring Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela on either side has been minted for the toss, said Ganguly. PTI TAP PDS PDS