India return to Test cricket with a much-anticipated two-match series in South Africa but it could get off to a false start, much as their ongoing tour of the country did earlier. This will be India's first Test series since their series in the West Indies in July this year and will also mark the first time the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah will be seen in action since the end of the 2023 World Cup.
The tour started off with a three-match T20I series, in which the first was washed out without the toss taking place in Durban. The second was significantly curtailed by rain. While the rest of the tour hasn't been affected by the weather thus far, it could become a factor again during the first Test, according Bryan Bloy, the pitch curator at SuperSport Park in Centurion where the match will be played from December 26.
"Temperature will be super low, like 20 degrees. The temperature is now 34 and it will drop to 20. I don’t know what conditions will be like, whether we will get play on Day 1," Bloy told PTI after his regular inspection of work. "Hopefully we will get some play and it will be cool on Day 3 and I don't know how much turn will be available."
Bloy said that if track remains under cover, batting first will be a tough ask. "I can’t guarantee the forecast but if it remains under cover for the better part of the two days then that might be tricky to bat first, because its been covered for so long and hasn’t been rolled for so long, we don’t know how long we will have to get the field ready for play in current situation.
{{/usCountry}}Bloy said that if track remains under cover, batting first will be a tough ask. "I can’t guarantee the forecast but if it remains under cover for the better part of the two days then that might be tricky to bat first, because its been covered for so long and hasn’t been rolled for so long, we don’t know how long we will have to get the field ready for play in current situation.
{{/usCountry}}"So if it’s a Day-3, 10 am start, it doesn’t give us much time, because it’s in the morning and you start playing at 10 and really three hours of cool weather and early morning will be tricky. If its covered for two days, I would presume bowlers would benefit from it."