NEW DELHI: South Africa bowling coach Piet Botha believes that conditions in Guwahati could be far more favourable for batters, but he is keen to see whether the Indian curators decide to trim the generous grass cover currently present on the red-soil surface at the Barsapara Stadium.
The venue will host the second and final Test from Saturday, with India looking to bounce back after a defeat on a tricky Eden Gardens pitch in Kolkata that handed South Africa a 1-0 lead in the series.
"As far as the pitch is concerned, obviously I had a look at it this morning, it's still two days to go. So it's difficult to predict if they will actually shave off more grass or not. That will obviously make a difference," Botha said during an interaction with the media ahead of the Test.
"But what we have heard is that it seems to be a good batting track up front, and spin comes into picture late. But we'll have to wait and see, maybe it starts earlier, and what the previous Test turned out to be," Botha, who has 217 first-class wickets, said.
Botha felt that with a 9 am start - 30 minutes earlier than the usual Test match timing in India - the new ball is likely to play a significant role because of the moisture remaining on the surface.
"The game's starting at 9 o'clock, obviously it will be a little bit cooler. It's quite hot at night, but obviously there will be a bit more moisture, so I think in terms of the first hour, the new ball should play a role. For how long, we are not sure, we'll have to see," he said.
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"If the wicket is good to bat on, then batting first is a good option, but if the track is like the one in Kolkata, then it hardly matters," he added.
"If the ball starts turning from day one, sometimes it (batting first) doesn't really play a role, because it becomes a low-scoring game, like the last one, and then sort of batting first, second, doesn't play as big a role.
"But if the pitch is going to play decently the first two days, then you obviously want to bat first, and hopefully it spins later on, and that's the reason you will want to bat first, so you can get those conditions later on and play to your advantage," he explained.
On the team front, he didn't seem to be optimistic about Kagiso Rabada playing the second game after missing the first one due to a ribcage injury.
Simon Harmer, South Africa's hero in the first game, had a slight shoulder niggle in Kolkata, for which he had consulted a specialist and seemed to be doing fine.
"Rabada has been under medical observation. Obviously he wasn't at the practise today but we will take a call in the next 24 hours."
(With PTI Inputs)
