How Jasprit Bumrah made world champions South Africa look ordinary at Eden Gardens

India walked into the first day of the opening Test at Eden Gardens with a lot of questions about the pitch, about the team balance, and about whether four spinners would be too many. By the end of the day, none of that mattered because Jasprit Bumrah had taken control of everything.

Bumrah’s sensational spell of 5 for 27 in 14 overs turned the game in India’s favour as what looked like South Africa’s strong start soon became a nightmare. India’s premier pacer caused the visitors’ batting line-up to collapse and reminded everyone why he is the best all-format bowler in the world right now.

Bumrah destroys South Africa after flying start

South Africa were cruising comfortably at one stage with 57 for 0, and it seemed they were heading toward a huge total after winning the toss. Ryan Rickelton came out playing shots, while Aiden Markram took some time before he found rhythm. India looked a bit flat in the first few overs with the new ball, especially Mohammed Siraj, on a pitch that had variable bounce.

But Bumrah kept asking questions in the opening spell. His every ball was aimed at the stumps or just outside, always threatening and forcing South Africa to think twice before attacking him. Finally, he provided India the first breakthrough in the 11th over, and then the real damage began.

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Rickelton fell for 23 off 22 balls and Markram followed almost immediately for 31 off 48 balls. Kuldeep Yadav then came in and removed Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma for just 3 runs. Suddenly, the scoreboard went from 57 for 0 to 71 for 3. The hard work the South African openers had done disappeared in minutes.

Bumrah became the first fast bowler since Ishant Sharma in 2019 to take a five-wicket haul on the opening day of a Test in India. Sharma had also achieved the feat at the same venue on Kolkata. Only Dale Steyn had done it before him in 2008. Bumrah’s five-for also pushed his tally of five-wicket hauls in Tests to 16 in 51 games.

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A pin-point yorker lights up Eden Gardens, uproots Maharaj, and seals South Africa’s innings at 159 all out. 💥

India’s spearhead. India’s show-stopper. 🇮🇳#INDvSA 1st Test LIVE NOW 👉… pic.twitter.com/GBiLkBTmIm

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) November 14, 2025

How Bumrah extracted magic out of a dry pitch

The Eden Gardens pitch was a bit tricky with irregular bounce. While Siraj and others struggled to consistently find that length in the first hour, Bumrah was different. He repeatedly hit the cracks, resulting in the ball to either rise quickly or stay low, which made it difficult for South African batters to score freely.

Even when the pitch seemed lifeless, Bumrah somehow found life in it. That’s what separated him from the others. Siraj had a quiet day but still took two in an over. Kuldeep also picked up two under his belt, while Axar Patel finished with one. But no one caused more trouble than Bumrah.

South Africa’s poor batting added to the collapse

While Bumrah was brilliant, South Africa’s batting also did not help their cause. After getting a perfect start, they kept losing wickets in regular intervals.

Markram, Rickelton, and Bavuma all fell in a short span. Wiaan Mulder, Tony de Zorzi, and Kyle Verreynne all got starts but threw them away in similar ways. Tristan Stubbs tried to fight, but the lower order collapsed around him. No one showed the patience needed for a tricky pitch like this.

Their shot selection was poor and their footwork also looked off-balance. Once Bumrah applied the pressure, they fell like a pack of cards. On a surface where 250-300 was easily possible with some disciplined batting, South Africa crashed to 159 all out in 55 overs, which looks far below par.

Did India really need four spinners? 

While India dominated the day with the ball, team selection remained a talking point. The selectors and management surprised everyone by picking four spinners - Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep, Axar, and Washington Sundar.

Initially, it was expected that India would choose between Kuldeep and a spin-allrounder. However, they picked both, which meant Axar also stayed in the playing XI, and Washington was pushed up the order as a top-order batter.

This overloaded the team with spinning options while weakening the batting a little. Sai Sudharsan has been dropped and rightly so, as he hasn’t been able to perform consistently apart from that one 80-odd innings.

However, looking at how Bumrah bowled and how the pitch behaved for pacers, India could have easily fielded an extra fast bowler or a specialist batter. Devdutt Padikkal could have been given a chance to see where he stands at the moment.

India continue their home dominance

By the end of the day, South Africa looked nothing like world champions as India took full control of the game. The Shubman Gill-led side finished at 37/1 in 20 overs, with KL Rahul and Washington Sundar walking back unbeaten at 13 and 6, respectively.

Yashasvi Jaiswal was the only Indian wicket that fell on Day 1 as he was removed by Marco Jansen for 12 off 27 balls. The hosts are trailing by 122 runs and will look to build on the solid start provided by Bumrah and others.