Eden Gardens. The theatre of dreams. A hallowed ground where nothing is impossible and impossible is nothing. Where VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid and Harbhajan Singh ripped the formbook to shreds in 2001, where magic hangs in the air even if the venue is grappling to build progressively on the past.

It was at Eden Gardens that, back in February 2010, Harbhajan conjured five wickets, the last of them in the final quarter of an hour on the last day, to extend India’s grip on the No. 1 Test ranking and consign South Africa to an innings loss despite Hashim Amla’s twin centuries. No one would have even imagined at the time that it would be the start of a stunning sequence that would leave the Proteas winless in India in their next seven Test outings.