Forget spin, it’s all about the Rabada and Bumrah blockbuster at Eden Gardens

India is home to one of the largest film industries in the world. Bollywood yields figures in the region of $1.5 billion – second only to Hollywood and China. It produces close to 2000 movies annually. 

But on Friday, the biggest showstopper in the land will feature at Eden Gardens in Kolkata when the world Test champion Proteas face up against their hosts India in the series premiere. It’s the hottest ticket in town with reports emanating from India that the 65 000-seater stadium is already sold out. 

There may be multiple languages spoken in India, but cricket is the universal mother tongue. The thousands waiting outside the iconic Eden Gardens – despite the presence of heavily armed security – just for a glimpse of their heroes arriving in the bus for training this week has certainly given the visitors a taste of the frenzy they can expect over the course of the next five days.

And while the Proteas may be the current world Test champions, do not for one minute think they are favourites for this series. For those familiar with the Rocky series, it’s a bit like the third edition where Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) may have been in possession of the belt, but it was the challenger Clubber Lang (Mr T) who had the muscle to throw the power-packed punches. 

Proteas fans will be hoping it has a similar ending to the 1982 movie though.

Custom dictates that all the pre-series talk will be about how much – not if – the Indian pitches will turn and whether the tourists’ batters are prepared for a trial by spin. It has certainly gone to script, although the hosts have been cognisant of the fact that the Proteas boast a spin arsenal that may even be better than their own.

It is for this reason that I believe the first Test, in particular, will be a blockbuster match-up between the pace attacks, led by their respective talismans Kagiso Rabada and Jasprit Bumrah.

The Australians may have something to say about it, but in my book the duo are the two greatest fast bowlers on the planet.

Proteas coach Shukri Conrad was in agreement on Wednesday.

“I think everybody talks about spin in India, but on both sides they’ve got world-class fast bowlers,” Conrad said.

“And again, if history is to be believed, then there’s always something for the fast bowlers at Eden Gardens. So, I expect the fast bowlers on both sides to have an impact on the game, especially in the first couple of days, and for spin to come in slightly later.

“So, yeah, there’s so many battles within the Test match, within this big war. Fast bowlers, you’re talking (Jasprit) Bumrah, (Kagiso) Rabada, (Marco) Jansen, (Mohammed) Siraj. There’s so many exciting battles to look forward to, and you’ve got to earn the right to get to the spin by taking care of the fast bowlers properly.”

Rabada is certainly a much better bowler than his numbers in India suggest. Six Tests, nine wickets, at an average of 44.0 with a strike-rate of 92.6. It’s not even comparable to his overall 340 wickets at an average of 22.03.

This could just be the defining series of Rabada’s career, especially as he had bowled excellently without much luck in the preceding series in Pakistan.

Bumrah, meanwhile, has never faced the Proteas on home soil before, but does have an outstanding record of 38 wickets at an average of 20.76 in the Republic.

At 30-and-31-years of age, respectively, the pair are at the peak of their powers and will be eager to leave their lasting imprint on this series.

Conrad could not have put it better when he closed off Wednesday’s press engagement with, “we’re licking our lips for the contest.”