India’s loss to South Africa in two-and-a-half days in the opening Test of the series has opened a debate on the state of the pitch in Guwahati.

This being the first Test in the Northeastern state and a 9am start to beat the early sunset --- tea will be at 11am followed by lunch to be taken at 1.20pm -- has added intrigue to the contest.

This follows high drama surrounding the surface in the Eden Gardens Test with Gautam Gambhir terming it as “exactly the wicket we wanted” and batting coach Sitanshu Kotak saying that the head coach actually sacrificed himself to prevent throwing the curator under the bus.

So how will the red soil wicket at the Barsapara Stadium behave? It certainly isn’t as dry as the Eden pitch and unlike Calcutta which was not watered in the lead-up to the start, it was watered on Thursday morning.

India’s obsession with pitches which turn from Day I, despite knowing it reduces the gulf in quality between the two teams’ spinners, has backfired.

There is hope that the Guwahati pitch will not behave similar to Eden Gardens where luck outweighs skill.

India’s stand-in captain Rishabh Pant said he expects the pitch to assist batters for the first two days before helping the spinners as the match progresses.

“This ground is very special. I made my ODI debut here. I’m getting to captain the Test team for the first time here... This pitch will play better. It will definitely be a better wicket to bat on.

“It will eventually turn after the first two days. But it will be a good contest,” Pant said.

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma also agreed.

“This wicket looks a lot fresher and will be more consistent in terms of variability compared to Eden Gardens. We will have another look in the morning and decide on Kagiso Rabada’s replacement,” Bavuma said.

“This is a typical sub-continental wicket with the first two days good for batting before spinners come into play,” he added.