R Ashwin notes concerns over upcoming Guwahati Test match against South Africa
Can a team play on home soil but feel like a guest? Sounds paradoxical? This is how the Indian cricket star sees the situation. R Ashwin notes concerns over upcoming Guwahati Test match against South Africa.
There is a victory, but it is too early to relax
The Indian national team just finished off a comfortable 2-0 win against West Indies in a Test cricket series. It would seem that they can breathe a sigh of relief and prepare for the next challenge, the visit of South Africa in November. But here’s the problem: one of the two Test matches against South Africa will be held in Guwahati, at the Barsapara Stadium. And Ashwin is sounding the alarm, declaring that it will be practically an away match for India. Why?
The thing is, Guwahati is a newcomer to the world of Test cricket. The stadium has hosted only a few limited-overs matches since 2017. But the red ball? Almost no one from the current team has played it there. The surface, the bounce, the pitch behavior — all of it is terra incognita for most players. “Nobody in India knows what will happen there. No one from this team has played a first-class match there,” — Ashwin says bluntly on his YouTube channel.
R Ashwin notes concerns over upcoming Guwahati Test match against South Africa: home advantage or lottery
And that’s the whole point. We’re used to thinking that playing at home is an automatic advantage. Home crowds, familiar conditions, home courts. But what if these “native” walls turn out to be unfamiliar? R Ashwin notes concerns over upcoming Guwahati Test match against South Africa and wryly notes that the only player who knows anything about the local pitch is Riyan Parag. “Call him if you want,” — Ashwin jokes, and there’s a grain of truth in the joke.
It turns out to be an interesting scenario. While South Africa will be puzzling over the classic Indian tournament in Kolkata, our players will have to solve the riddle of Guwahati from scratch. Where is the home advantage here? It’s evaporated like drops of morning dew on an unexplored lawn.
Ashwin, by the way, raises a deeper issue. He advocates for fixed Test centers in India. That’s a sound idea: the team should have its own fortress, where every stone on the field is familiar and studied. Instead, we get a lottery. Today we play in Ahmedabad, tomorrow in Delhi, the day after tomorrow in Guwahati. It’s not a team, but some kind of nomadic troupe.
Uncertainty is India’s main opponent in Guwahati. Will the team be able to adapt and turn uncertainty into a weapon? Unanswered questions that make the upcoming match even more intriguing. One thing is certain: calling this game simply a “home” game is to disrespect neither the spectators nor the very essence of sport. Prepare for surprises, because cricket, like life, loves to throw up unexpected scenarios.
