South Africa’s India tour began on a solid note as their captain, Temba Bavuma, won the coin toss and opted to bat first at Eden Gardens in Kolkata today. The opening pair of Ryan Rickelton and Aiden Markram
then led a fine start as they unleashed a flurry of boundaries, particularly targeting right-arm pacer Mohammed Siraj early on.
While Markram took his sweet time, playing 22 dot balls before unfurling a sumptuous straight drive off Siraj for a boundary to open his account in style, Rickelton was struck two fours off the first four deliveries he faced, both off Siraj.
Siraj was soon taken off the attack after leaking 25 runs in his three overs. On the other hand, Jasprit Bumrah kept his end tight, allowing just two runs in four overs.
With Siraj ineffective and conceding boundaries, India captain Shubman Gill turned to the left-arm spin of Axar Patel as early as the eighth over of South African innings, and he ended up conceding two fours in it.
Spin legend Ravichandran Ashwin was critical of Siraj’s first spell.
“When you lose the toss, that’s exactly the first spell you don’t want from your new ball bowler. Hope India can exert control through spin,” Ashwin posted on X.
When you lose the toss, that’s exactly the first spell you don’t want from your new ball bowler.
Hope India can exert control through spin. #INDvSA
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) November 14, 2025
When a user defended Siraj by pointing out his quality, Ashwin clarified, “It’s just how it’s panned out and not a personal remark. Hope we grow out of it.”
However, soon Bumrah worked his magic and pushed South Africa on the back foot by getting rid of both the openers in quick succession. He first cleaned up Rickelton (23) to break the 57-run partnership before having Markram caught behind on 31.
Later, Kuldeep Yadav struck in his second over by removing skipper Bavuma for 3.
