‘Sai Sudharsan should have played’: Serious question raised over India’s four-turn strategy during 1st Test IND vs SA | Cricket News – The Tech Word News

Sai Sudharsan (PTI Photo/Sailendra Bhojak) Former Indian cricketer Akash Chopra expressed his disapproval of India’s decision to drop Sai from the first Test match playing XI in Kolkata on Friday.“Sai should have played in this test. India will bowl at least one if not two bowlers in this test,” he wrote on X.In the morning session of the first cricket Test against South Africa at the Eden Gardens, Jasprit Bumrah claimed two wickets while conceding just nine runs as India stormed back into the fold.

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After winning the toss, South Africa started aggressively in the first hour scoring 57 runs without loss. They finished the first session at 105-3 in 27 overs.Wiaan Mulder and Tony de Zorzi remained unbeaten at the break, scoring 22 and 15 points respectively.Indian skipper Shubman Gill’s bowling bad luck continued as he lost his seventh toss in eight Tests with South Africa opting to bat first.The South African openers got off to a good start with Aiden Markram scoring 31 and Ryan Rickelton contributing 23 runs.The visitors’ position weakened as they slumped from 57-0 to 71-3 in 5.3 overs. However, Mulder and de Zorzi steadied the innings with a partnership of 34 runs off 66 balls.South Africa made changes to their line-up as Kagiso Rabada sat out with a rib injury and Corbin Bosch came on. The team picked two spinners, Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj.The Proteas have not secured a Test win in India since 2015, with their last Test series victory dating back to 2000-01 under Hansie Cronje.Kolkata’s Eden Gardens is hosting its first Test match since the 2019 India-Bangladesh day-night contest.The second Test is scheduled at Guwahati’s Barsapara Stadium from November 22, its debut as a men’s Test venue after hosting several matches of the 2025 Women’s Cricket World Cup.In recent matches, India beat West Indies 2-0 with Yadav taking 12 wickets while South Africa drew their two-Test series 1-1 in Pakistan.