India-South Africa Test: On a mysterious red-soil pitch, India must find answers to save the series

Indias challenge is not limited to the pitch alone. Shubman Gill has been ruled out with neck spasms, and this means that Indias best right-hand top-order batsman is out of the picture. If a specialist batsman were to take his place, India would have to choose between B Sai Sudarshan and Devdutt Padikkal, the backup in the squad. Both batsmen are left-handed, and this means almost all of Indias batting will be vulnerable to the ball turning one way off the surface.