Gill confident India will cope with the South Africa challenge

India skipper Shubman Gill expressed confidence that his side will cope with the challenge of tackling World Test Championship holder South Africa rather well.

“These two Test matches are very important for us to play the WTC final [in 2027] and South Africa is a very good team,” Gill said on Thursday, on the eve of the series-opener at Eden Gardens.

“So, we know that it won’t be easy and there will be difficult moments. But as a team we have shown that whenever there are difficult moments, we have handled them very well.”

Gill was understandably buoyed by the choices he had, especially in the spin-bowling department, but was all along mindful of the selection headache it may produce.

“It is very difficult to decide who you want to play,” he stated. “But this problem is always better, that you have more options. The quality that we have in this team, I consider myself very fortunate.”

Gill felt that the variety that Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel bring, in terms of angles and pace, gives India an advantage.

“Unless you are playing on a red-soil wicket, the pace is a little bit slower off the wicket. So if your bowlers are bowling at a quicker pace, it gives the batsmen a little bit less time to adjust,” the 26-year-old opined.

“The balls that are not turning become more dangerous, because they come at a much-faster speed. So definitely that’s an advantage.

“And whenever we play in India, more or less the spinners decide the game. The better your spin attack, the better chances you have.”