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Home advantage cannot be taken away from India: Chopra on ‘unknown’ Guwahati pitch
As the Indian team gears up for the second Test against South Africa in Guwahati, Aakash Chopra feels that the home team will surely have an advantage.
Last Updated on - November 20, 2025 4:27 PM IST
India and South Africa are going to face each other in the second Test of the ongoing series. The game will be in Guwahati, whose pitch is an uncharted territory for both the teams, but former opener Aakash Chopra reckons that the home side still holds a slight advantage because of its prior experience of playing on such surfaces.
India lost the series opening Kolkata Test by 30 runs- where the team was wrapped up for 93/9 in the second innings as Shubman Gill was ruled not fit to play. But, Aakash Chopra feels that playing at the ACA Stadium- which is a first-time Test venue both both the hosts and the Proteas- provides the Indian side with a unique challenge.
“No one has any idea how cricket will be played in Guwahati because it is a new Test venue. Of course, first-class cricket has already happened there, and we have seen some big turn during the recent Women’s World Cup matches. So, if you are playing there for the first time, be it Shubhman Gill or Sai Sudarshan or Rishabh Pant the pitch is as good for them as it is for Temba Bavuma or Ryan Rickleton. So, it is a challenge for both the teams,” Chopra, a JioStar expert, said during a Media Day ahead of the second Test.
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Aakash Chopra expressed his little doubt over home advantage being taken away from India- stating that the players have grown up on these particular surfaces. Though he noted that Guwahati is a new place for the team, the soil still comes from somewhere in India. Aakash pointed that all the players should believe in themselves and adapt lot quicker.
“But we are still playing in India. We grew up playing on these kind of surfaces. Yes, Guwahati might be a different one. But the soil must have come from somewhere in India. We would like to believe and back ourselves to know these conditions or adapt to these conditions a lot faster even if we find them slightly different, as compared to, say, somebody who is brought up in Johannesburg and has played all his cricket at the Wanderers ground,” he noted.