Skipper Temba Bavuma, making a return from injury, underwent a fitness drill under the supervision of the team’s trainer, physio and head coach Shukri Conrad as South Africa trained at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday morning ahead of the opening Test against India starting from Friday.
The drill involved short sprints between three marker cones and lasted about 20 minutes. While his teammates were engaged in an intense nets session, Bavuma completed his running routine, did some shadow practice, and later joined the nets.
Bavuma, who missed the start of South Africa’s World Test Championship title defence against Pakistan with a calf strain sustained in England in September, returned to action last week in the second unofficial Test against India A in Bengaluru.
He made a composed 59 off 101 balls in the second innings after a first-ball duck, helping South Africa A to a five-wicket win.
He is expected to replace Dewald Brevis, who managed only 46 runs in two Tests in Pakistan.
Tony de Zorzi, South Africa’s top run-getter in that series with a century and fifty and is a good player of spin, will likely be shuffled from the No 4 position he had occupied in Bavuma’s absence.
Conrad hailed Bavuma as the team’s key player and said their drawn series in Pakistan without him was a massive boost.
“Temba’s massive for us, he’s our best player. It’s as simple as that, which makes winning a Test match in Pakistan so much better for us, that we were able to do it without our best player,” Conrad said.
“So a lot of feel-good, a lot of confidence. And if you take the last two years maybe, he’s been one of the best players in the world. So his record speaks for itself.
“The calmness he brings to the batting unit, his leadership, his quiet demeanour. We get a lot of feel-good from that and he certainly brings a lot of confidence,” Conrad said.
“And we’re thrilled that he got through the A game as well as he did. I remember speaking to him after the first or second day when he got a first ball. We were hoping that he’d get some time out in the middle of the second innings, which he did.”
Senior opener Aiden Markram, who struggled to convert starts in Pakistan, also had an intense nets session, taking short-distance throwdowns before facing the main nets.
Tristan Stubbs batted long and also bowled part-time off-spin, giving the think-tank a possible additional spin option to complement their three specialists – Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer and Senuran Muthusamy who were instrumental in South Africa’s 1-1 draw in Pakistan.
Pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada had a light session, limiting himself to a few shadow runs and rhythm drills late in the day, while Corbin Bosch, the 140kph all-rounder with a first-class century and IPL debut experience with Mumbai Indians this season, slogged it out at the nets.
It remains to be seen whether team goes with the tried and tested Marco Jansen or unleash Bosch to partner Rabada with the new ball.
Historically, the Eden Gardens track, because of stadium’s location adjacent to river Hooghly, has offered movement early on for pacers before aiding spin from the third day onwards.
With a nip in the air, Rabada and the seamers are expected to be key with the new ball.
“I think it’s a typical Kolkata wicket. I didn’t expect any different. My observation is that there will be something in it for the quick bowlers. It’s an early morning start.
“We practiced here in the afternoon session yesterday and found that the ball started swinging. So that might not be pitch-related, but certainly overhead-related.
“And definitely it will spin. The question is always how early in the match it does spin. It’s pretty much stock standard what’s out there. I don’t think there are any demons, nothing that will surprise us,” he said.