Kolkata, 13 November (Udaipur Kiran). Ahead of the India–South Africa two-Test series beginning Thursday in Kolkata, India captain Shubman Gill said Eden Gardens holds a special place in his career. He also called the selection of the playing XI a challenging task.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Gill said, “My IPL career started at this ground, and whenever I come here, it feels like playing at Punjab’s PCA Stadium. The last Test here was in 2019. I was part of the squad but not in the playing XI. So this will be my first Test at Eden Gardens. Leading the country here is an honour.”

On the selection of all-rounders, Gill said, “We have many quality all-rounders at the moment, which is a good sign. All of them have strong batting and bowling records, especially in Indian conditions. That makes choosing the playing XI difficult because it’s hard to leave someone out — but it’s a good problem to have.”

India currently have Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar as all-round options. Nitish Kumar Reddy has been released for the first Test and will rejoin before the second.

Speaking about South Africa, Gill said, “They are the reigning champions. They drew the last series. So we expect a competitive and exciting contest.”

Gill has been in outstanding form since taking over the captaincy. He is the leading run-scorer in Test cricket in 2025. After scoring 754 runs in the five-Test series in England, he now has 979 runs in 15 innings of eight Tests this year. With 21 more runs, he will become the first batter to reach 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year in 2025 — the first such milestone in his career.