Ind vs SA Tests: All eyes on Barsapara track as Assam braces for red-letter day

The spotlight shifted to Barsapara Stadium on the outskirts of Guwahati as both the India and South African squads touched down on Wednesday afternoon for the second and final Test from Saturday. It’s a historic occasion for Assam as it becomes the first venue in the North-East to be hosting a Test match, but Gautam Gambhir & Co. will have other pressing things in mind after their humiliating loss inside three days at Kolkata's Eden Gardens.

‘’Come Saturday, it will be a red letter day for us. There is a fair amount of enthusiasm among the local people as they have been only used to the experience of IPL games or white-ball cricket, while the last ICC Women’s World Cup also had a lot of curiosity value. It’s time for the real thing now,’’ said Rajendra Singh, Assam Cricket Association (ACA) joint-secretary and a noted former cricketer of the state.

It’s a no-brainer that Guwahati has earned pride of place thanks to the growing clout of the state in the BCCI and the presence of Devojit Saikia — the new secretary — but now it’s ACA’s turn to see that things are conducted smoothly over the next week or so. The state of the wicket is a contentious issue, but the ACA official says they are making all efforts to ensure the wicket doesn’t crumble in the early days.

Speaking to National Herald over phone, Singh said: ‘’Ashis Bhowmick, the BCCI chief curator, has been camping here. There will be bounce and carry on this wicket and it will offer some turn after the first two days, so we can expect that the action continues at least over four days.’’ The fact that the Guwahati wicket is made of red earth — unlike the Eden wicket, made of black soil — is part of the reason it is expected to hold on longer.

The new venue of Barsapara accommodates 37,000, a major jump from the centrally located Nehru Stadium which acted as the state’s multipurpose venue for both cricket and football. ‘’We have introduced daily tickets for a nominal price of Rs 100 each and as of now, 10,000 have been sold out for the first day and around 12,000 for the second. The figure will certainly increase once the Gills and Bavumas touch down and practice sessions begin,’’ felt Singh, a peer of the BCCI secretary from their playing days.

Asked about the cricketing significance of hosting a Test match in Guwahati, Singh offered an interesting insight: ‘’If you notice, none of the NE teams are really good in the red-ball format and often become the whipping boys in longer contests. If we can bring Tests here from time to time, budding cricketers can gain some insight into the finer points of the game, like building an innings as also watching a (Jasprit) Bumrah or (Ravindra) Jadeja up close.’’ Incidentally, Singh is in charge of the residential academy opened by ACA in north Guwahati.

The obsession over the wicket, however, is something that Gautam Gambhir & Co. will do well to cast aside over the next two days. The public mood has really turned against the head coach over his stubbornness in insisting that the Eden wicket be left dry for nearly four days — refusing to learn any lessons from the New Zealand series debacle last year — and finally being beaten at his own game by Simon Harmer & Co.

A major piece of good news for the India camp, however, came in a health update from BCCI that captain Shubman Gill was cleared to take the short flight from Kolkata to Guwahati after his neck spasm. ‘’Shubman has been responding well to the medical treatment provided and will travel to Guwahati with the team on 19th November, 2025. He will continue to be monitored by the BCCI medical team and a decision on his participation in the second Test will be taken accordingly,’’ the BCCI statement said.

Meanwhile, the South Africa camp has a few injury scares of its own. The visitors have flown in paceman Lungi Ngidi from home as a cover for Kagiso Rabada, who missed the first Test due to a rib injury sustained in practice ahead of the match. This was followed by confirmation of the news of Simon Harmer, their matchwinner at Eden, and paceman Marco Jansen visting the city hospital where Gill was being treated for a neck spasm.