India vs South Africa: Eden Gardens delivers on an electrifying first day

Kolkata yet again lived up to its reputation as a sports-mad city.

Yes, football is its soul, but cricket is in its heart and on the first day of the India-South Africa Test match at Eden Gardens yesterday, over 35,000 spectators turned up despite the visitors opting to bat first on what was a working day in this part of the world.

The atmosphere was truly electric and with the hosts calling the shots on Day 1, the sizeable crowd had plenty to cheer about. Understandably, Jasprit Bumrah was the talk of the town for his five-wicket haul in what was incredibly his first Test match at the iconic venue – not surprising, given that Kolkata was hosting a Test match after six years.

Long before the first ball had been bowled, spectators began streaming into the stadium, most wearing Team Blue colours, carrying national flags and banners, donning face-paint and exuding unbridled enthusiasm. If losing the toss was a dampener – truth be told, most had gone to watch India bat first – the first hour too did not go to plan as the South African openers Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton rattled up 57 in quick time, before the visitors unraveled spectacularly inside what quickly turned into a roaring cauldron.

As chants of ‘Boom Boom Bumrah’ grew louder every time the speedster knocked over a South African batter and with Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj too joining the party, the fans at the stadium played their own part in the revelry. With each wicket, the crescendo rose to a deafening pitch and the Indian boundary-runners spent more time waving to the crowd chanting their names than saving a boundary.

One could see the beaming face of Cricket Association of Bengal President, Kolkata’s own Sourav Ganguly, sitting alongside his wife Dona and quietly soaking in the atmosphere that Eden Gardens seemingly never fails to conjure.

With the likes of Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, Ajay Jadeja and Axar Patel yet to bat and with K.L. Rahul and Washington Sundar well set at the crease, South Africa could be in for a long day today. And given the state of the match, with chances of it taking a decisive turn tomorrow – pardon the pun – expect a packed Eden Gardens for Day 2 and 3 with close to 60,000 screaming fans on each day, egging India on for victory.