Proteas coach Shukri Conrad doesn't expect 'any demons' from 'typical Kolkata wicket'.

Sourav Ganguly was a fierce rival of the Proteas in his heyday. 

But such has the times changed in modern-day cricket that the former India captain was seen in discussion with a couple of Proteas just a couple of days out from the first Test in Kolkata on Friday.

Was Ganguly, commonly referred to as the ‘Prince of Bengal’ and the newly re-elected president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, which oversees Eden Gardens, providing the tourists with confidential information on how the surface will play?

Proteas coach Shukri Conrad was certainly not taking the bait, who believed it had more to do with the upcoming Betway SA20 where Ganguly is the coach of the Pretoria Capitals. 

“Obviously an icon like Sourav, if he's around and you want to learn whatever you can from the great man. But I don't think there was too much he was giving away with regards to the venue or anything,” Conrad said. 

“It was just a nice catch-up with some of the guys that he's going to work with in a month's time.”

It's not unusual for the Indian media to go scratching where it doesn’t itch, and even more so when it comes to the state of the surface ahead of a major home Test series. 

After years of producing raging turners at home, when the team was led by coach Ravi Shastri and captain Virat Kohli, India are now actually trying to move to more moderate surfaces - partially due to the side now featuring a young and inexperienced batting line-up along with being beaten at their own game by New Zealand last year.

Conrad is not too fussed either way. 

“I don't think there are any demons there. Nothing that will surprise us. I think it's a typical Kolkata wicket,” he said. 

“I think my observation is that there will be something in it for the quick bowlers. It's an early morning start. We practised yesterday afternoon, late afternoon, we found that the ball started swinging.

“So obviously that might not be pitch related, but certainly overhead related. And definitely it will spin. The question is always how early the match does it spin.

“I think it's pretty much stock standard what's out there. We expect it to look like that. I don't think there are any demons there.”

Furthermore, Conrad was not buying into the theory that India are vulnerable due to the fact that superstars Rohit Sharma and Kohli are no longer part of the Test squad. 

“India are a tough challenge anywhere in the world. And when you come to an iconic venue like Eden Gardens, it just makes it even tougher. I don't think you can compare the quality of the sides we’ve played against to India. And this will be our biggest challenge,” he said. 

“Indian cricket is always going to be strong simply because the healthy competition for spots in the team. You know as a young player if you've cracked it and you've made it to international level for India that you've had to work bloody hard for it.

“They've got a new bunch of superstars, they've got new leaders. I think Shubman (Gill) is a great leader for them. I saw that in the Test series against England. And they've got fighters, you know, they've got someone like (Mohammed) Siraj.

“They've got exciting cricketers. They take the game on, they're confident. But suddenly we've got that very same exciting, talented, aggressive cricketers. So yeah, I think we're licking our lips for the contest.”

SQUADS FOR EDEN GARDENS

Proteas: Temba Bavuma (captain), Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Tony de Zorzi, Zubayr Hamza, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne.

India: Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper, vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep.

Start: 6am (SA time); TV: SuperSport