The short red-ball series between India and world champions South Africa reaches its conclusion at the newest Test venue in the country – the eastern city of Guwahati.
South Africa showed why they are the world champions as they stunned India in the first Test in Kolkata, dismantling the hosts in a low-scoring contest that finished inside three days.
Proteas spinners exposed India's weakness against the turning ball as they dismissed them for just 93 in the fourth innings to clinch a 30-run win and ensure they can't lose the series.
The second Test now assumes greater significance, as India have now lost four successive home Tests against top-tier teams – New Zealand last year and Proteas now. If India manage to lose the series, it will greatly affect their standings in the World Test Championships table.
Another area of concern for the Indians is the fitness of their captain Shubman Gill, who picked up a neck injury and did not bat in both innings in the first Test. His availability for the second Test will be crucial as India's top-order is stacked with left-handers.
All of which make the second match in Guwahati significant. The Barsapara Cricket Stadium will host its first ever Test, which will allow a new set of fans to witness the ups and downs of a five-day game.
Guwahati's first match, which begins on Saturday, will be memorable for another reason.
Unique daily schedule
Normally, a day Test match in India begins at 9.30am with the first session ending two hours later with a 40-minute lunch break. Following that, teams play for two more hours before a 20-minute tea break.
However, Guwahati is in the eastern-most part of India with very early sunrise and sunset – in the absence of daylight saving system.
With that in mind, the Indian cricket board has decided to tweak the schedule of the second Test. The Test will start half an hour earlier, have a 20-minute tea break first, followed by the second session and then the longer lunch break from around 1.30pm local time.
It sounds like a simple solution, which in fairness should have been adopted a long time back. However, Test cricket is steeped in tradition and such changes get sidetracked along the way.
However, it is not a completely new concept in cricket. Day-night Tests have had a tea break first and dinner break after the second session.
Here, the limited availability of daylight has forced organisers to switch the breaks around for a day-game, which is a first.
Should the switch be made permanent?
Of the many changes that have been recommended over the years, this one looks like a low hanging fruit. Sure, it might seem frivolous to look at which session break comes at what time of the day; there are larger concerns about the general health of international cricket.
Even so, the simplicity of this change makes it a bit of a no-brainer.
A shorter tea break after the first session and a proper lunch break around 1.30pm makes sense. Also, it would provide a greater boost of energy for the final session after the exertions of the opening two sessions.
The reason we have the lunch break first and the tea break later is because the game developed and propagated in England. There, matches start at 10am and finish later in the evening – at a time where you would get sunset in most other parts of the world.
According to the English system, the lunch and tea breaks fall into the natural order of the day. Maybe, the new timetable can work for others.
When logical steps are taken by cricket boards, it also raises hopes of similar straightforward decisions in other, more pressing, areas of the game.
