ICC reveals IND vs SA Kolkata Test pitch rating

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has revealed the pitch rating for the first Test of the two-match Test series in November 2025, which Eden Gardens in Kolkata hosted. It massively helped the spinners, as the match ended inside three days.

India vs South Africa 2025 Kolkata Test: India lost by 30 runs

The latest Kolkata Test between India and South Africa didn’t experience a 200+ total in four innings. After South Africa chose to bat first, they scored 159 all out, while the hosts India replied with 189 all out and earned a 30-run lead.

In their second innings, South Africa scored 153 runs, where the visiting captain Temba Bavuma scored a heroic half-century (55*), the only 40+ score in that Test match. Chasing down the 124-run target in the fourth innings, India were bundled out for only 93 runs, as South Africa won that Test match by 30 runs.

It was South Africa’s first Test win in India after 15 years, where the 36-year-old off-spinner Simon Harmer won the Player of the Match award for taking eight wickets in the game, four wickets in each innings (4/30 & 4/21). Ultimately, South Africa won the two-match Test series by 2-0, which was their second Test series in India, first in 25 years.

Eden Gardens in Kolkata received "satisfactory" pitch rating

The ICC match referee Richie Richardson has brought the "satisfactory" rating for the Kolkata Test pitch. It means that the Test pitch has passed ICC’s pitch expectation level, as the venue received the second level of the ICC’s four-tier pitch rating system.

Despite several criticisms, including those of the former Indian captain and the present Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) President Sourav Ganguly, the Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir was happy with the pitch condition, as he clarified that the team wanted a similar kind of pitch.