Whichever side of the debate you fall on, one truth in Test cricket refuses to budge: winning away from home remains one of the sport’s toughest tasks. The best teams in the world grapple with it, and recent history has shown how quickly fortunes can flip.

Just a year ago, India arrived in Australia and made a bold start, clinching a memorable win in Perth to go 1–0 up. Four Tests later, they were flying home after a 1-3 defeat. Momentum in overseas series is fragile, and India learned that the hard way.

Now, the picture has reversed. South Africa – World Test Championship holders yet underdogs on arrival – have stunned India with a gritty 31-run win at Eden Gardens. The visitors are 1–0 ahead, cannot lose the series from here, and have placed the pressure squarely back on the hosts. For India, the spotlight has shifted uncomfortably towards their own backyard yet again.

After all the noise generated by the sharply turning surface in Kolkata, attention now moves to Guwahati — a venue that has never hosted a Test match. The obvious question is whether India will once again request a raging turner, and if they do, whether they will avoid repeating the Eden Gardens selection misjudgement: loading the XI with allrounders at the expense of specialist batsmen.

With Shubman Gill ruled with a neck spasm sustained in Kolkata, India will have to pick one of B Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal or Nitish Reddy. Four allrounders backfired at Eden Gardens, where a vicious surface demanded a specialist batsman’s application, and so it seems likely that Sudarshan will return at one-down. 

If India truly want “tough conditions”, as head coach Gautam Gambhir hinted, then they must accept the consequences. Rank turners demand technique, temperament and time at the crease. They do not allow the luxury of batting depth through allrounders. And, uncomfortably for India, the current generation has not shown the level of skill against high-quality spin that previous eras prided themselves on.

South Africa’s victory in Kolkata was built not only on fortune — Temba Bavuma did win a crucial toss — but on the discipline of their two experienced spinners, Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj. Both over 35, they out-bowled their Indian counterparts across conditions that should, theoretically, have suited the home side far more.

This is not a new trend. England in 2012, Australia in the 2023 Border–Gavaskar Trophy, and the Ben Stokes’ team in Visakhapatnam in 2024 showed that a visiting team with two accurate, assertive spinners can win Test matches in India. The pitch becomes an ally only when the bowling attack is precise enough to exploit it.

Bavuma’s team demonstrated resilience too. They were poor in both innings earlier in the match, yet clawed their way back through discipline and application — something the Indian batting line-up lacked at Eden Gardens. 

And so, once again, India walk into a home Test under mounting scrutiny. The 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand still lingers in memory, a reminder that India’s dominance at home can no longer be taken for granted.

Guwahati now becomes a litmus test. Will India pick the right XI? Will they apply themselves better in challenging conditions? Or will they let their obsession with extreme pitches cloud judgment again?

Whatever unfolds, one thing is certain: Guwahati promises compelling cricket, and perhaps a telling chapter in India’s evolving Test identity.

India likely 11: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 KL Rahul, 3 B Sai Sudharsan, 4 Washington Sundar, 5 Ravindra Jadeja, 6 Rishabh Pant (capt/wk), 7 Dhruv Jurel, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj

South Africa likely 11: 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Ryan Rickleton (wk), 3 Wiann Mulder, 4 Temba Bavuma (capt), 5 Tony de Zorzi, 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Kyle Verreyne (wk), 8 Marco Jansen, 9 Corbin Bosch, 10 Simon Harmer, 11 Keshav Maharaj