India, Nov. 12 -- On Tuesday, four days before the start of the opening Test of the two-match series against South Africa in Kolkata, the Indian team kept an optional training session at the Eden Gardens. Only a select few showed up, which included captain Shubman Gill and the head coach Gautam Gambhir, who only arrived in the city on Monday following a long flight from Australia, where India played a T20I series last week.

After the end of the three-hour-long training session, where only seven players had turned up, as the likes of Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Devdutt Padikkal and Axar Patel skipped, the coaching staff gathered at the centre of the wicket for a long pitch inspection.

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