South Africa is 105-3 at lunch on the 1st day of the 1st cricket test against India

KOLKATA, India (AP) — Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets for nine runs as India fought back in the morning session Friday on the first day of the first cricket test against South Africa at Eden Gardens.

After winning the toss, South Africa set a hectic scoring pace in the first hour of play, reaching 57-0, before finishing the first session at 105-3 in 27 overs.

At the break, Wiaan Mulder was unbeaten on 22 while Tony de Zorzi was batting on 15 not out.

Earlier, India captain Shubman Gill lost his seventh toss in eight tests as South Africa opted to bat.

Openers Aiden Markram scored 31 runs and Ryan Rickelton 23 to give South Africa the early advantage.

But South Africa slipped from its unbeaten 57 to 71-3 in 5.3 overs, before Mulder and de Zorzi batted on for the remainder of the session. They added 34 off 66 balls for the fourth wicket.

Pacer Kagiso Rabada missed out for World Test Championship winner South Africa because of a rib injury, replaced by medium pace all-rounder Corbin Bosch. The Proteas opted for two spinners in Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj.

South Africa has not won a test in India since 2015. It last won a test series in India in 2000-01 under Hansie Cronje.

Kolkata is hosting its first test since 2019, when India and Bangladesh played a day-night test.

The second test will be played from Nov. 22 at Guwahati’s Barsapara Stadium, which hosted multiple games in the 2025 Women’s Cricket World Cup but will become a men’s test venue for the first time.

Recently, India beat West Indies 2-0, with left-arm wrist spinner Yadav the leading bowler with 12 wickets. South Africa drew a two-test series in Pakistan 1-1.

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India's Jasprit Bumrah, right, and KL Rahul leave the field for lunch on the first day of the first cricket test match between India and South Africa in Kolkata, India, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Indian players walk off the field for lunch on the first day of the first cricket test match between India and South Africa in Kolkata, India, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

South Africa's Ryan Rickelton, left, and batting partner Aiden Markram run between the wickets to score on the first day of the first cricket test match between India and South Africa in Kolkata, India, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

India's Jasprit Bumrah celebrates the dismissal of South Africa's Aiden Markram, left, on the first day of the first cricket test match between India and South Africa in Kolkata, India, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

South Africa's Aiden Markram walks off the field after losing his wicket on the first day of the first cricket test match between India and South Africa in Kolkata, India, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

India's captain Shubman Gill, left, and South Africa's captain Temba Bavuma pose with the trophy before the start of of the first day of the first cricket test match between India and South Africa in Kolkata, India, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

India's captain Shubman Gill, left, and South Africa's captain Temba Bavuma pose with the trophy before the start of of the first day of the first cricket test match between India and South Africa in Kolkata, India, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

India's captain Shubman Gill, right, and South Africa's captain Temba Bavuma walk to pose with the trophy before the start of of the first day of the first cricket test match between India and South Africa in Kolkata, India, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

NEW DELHI (AP) — India has begun the world’s largest national population count, which could reshape welfare programs and political representation across the country.

The previous census in 2011 recorded a population of 1.21 billion. It's now estimated to be more than 1.4 billion, making India the most populous nation.

The new census had been planned for 2021 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and logistical challenges.

Here’s how India’s census works and why it is significant:

The first phase of the count started Wednesday and will roll out around the country through September. The workers will spend about a month in each area collecting information on homes and available facilities and will document housing stock and living conditions.

The exercise will blend in-person surveys with a digital option where residents can submit information through a multilingual smartphone application that integrates satellite-based mapping.

The second phase to be conducted from September to next April 1 will record more detailed information like people's social and economic characteristics, including religion and caste.

More than 3 million government workers are expected to be deployed over the course of the year. In 2011, nearly 2.7 million enumerators surveyed more than 240 million households nationwide.

The second phase of the census will attempt a broader accounting of caste beyond historically marginalized groups.

Caste is an ancient system of social hierarchy in India and is influential in defining social standing and deciding who gets access to resources, education and economic opportunity. There are hundreds of caste groups based on occupation and economic status across India, particularly among Hindus, but the country has limited or outdated data on how many people belong to them.

The last attempt to gather detailed caste information through a census dates to 1931, during British colonial rule. Since independent India’s first census in 1951, it counted only Dalits and Adivasis, members of marginalized groups known as scheduled castes and tribes.

Successive governments have resisted conducting a full caste count, arguing it could heighten social tensions and trigger unrest.

Population data collected through the census underpins the distribution of government welfare programs and a wide range of public policies.

It could also prompt a redrawing of India’s political map, as seats in the lower house of Parliament and state legislatures may be increased to reflect population growth. A 2023 law reserves one-third of legislative seats for women, so any expansion would raise the number of seats set aside for female representatives.

Irfan Ahmad checks census registration online at a registration center as the street is reflected on the glass in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

A Muslim woman checks her census registration online at a registration center in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

FILE -Mahesh Shah, left, stands as his family members look while census worker Rumima Das, writes the information on a paper on the first day of the national census at Ramsingh Chapori village, east of Gauhati, India, April 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath, File)

FILE - Indians crowd ticket counters at a railway station in Ahmadabad, India, Oct. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki, File)