Kotian took four wickets as India A restricted South Africa A to 299 for 9 on the first day of the opening four-day match at the BCCI CoE grounds in Bengaluru on Thursday.
India's strategy of playing two fast bowlers, one pace bowling all-rounder, and three spinners could possibly come in handy on this surface.
The Proteas are not expected to tinker with their four-pronged pace attack comprising Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Ottneil Baartmen that has served them well in the tournament so far with Keshav Maharaj taking on the spin duties.
Ravichandran Ashwin exposed India batters' lack of quality to battle ball tweakers by claiming that if legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar or past domestic heroes Amol Muzumdar, the India women's team head coach and Mithun Manhas had played against spinners on such a track, the Test would have gone to four days, unlike India's harrowing 30-run defeat against South Africa at Eden Gardens.
Ravindra Jadeja said the looming series defeat to South Africa will have no bearing on India's next Test assignment in Sri Lanka in August next year.
Marco Jansen demolished the Indian batting line-up with a six-wicket haul before South Africa extended their lead on Day 3 of the second and final Test.
Deepti jumps two places to 5th, Mandhana continues to hold top spot in ODI rankings
Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad hundreds help India set 359-run target in second ODI
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led India will be playing an ODI World Cup final for the third time, having finished runners-up in 2005 and 2017 to Australia and England, respectively. This will be South Africa's maiden appearance in the final.
With Bumrah leading the charge, India prised out five wickets in the second session to snuff out South Africa's hopes of reaching the 200 mark.
Conversations might have been different if Pant got his execution right: Jansen
Vice-captain Rishabh Pant said India's batters should have adapted to the challenge of playing on a tricky pitch at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
South Africa sharpen spin game in attacking net session ahead of Eden Test
Frustrating to lose wickets to part-timer; SA are doing right to make three finals: Wolvaardt
'Funny enough, I'm not one for records, but when you mention Meg Lanning, I'm glad I'm above that one. As long as we are winning the games, then I'm all good.'
Abhishek Sharma's flamboyance will meet its match in Shaheen Shah Afridi's precision in what promises to be an "edge of the seat" battle in the Asia Cup final on Sunday.
Abhimanyu Easwaran made the future path all the more tough with his second duck of the match, while Sai Sudharsan concluded his lukewarm preparation for the South Africa Test series with an underwhelming 23 off 38 balls.
Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and K L Rahul perished early as India fumbled in the chase of a mammoth 549-run target on Day 4 of the second Test.
The Proteas arrive high on confidence, having fought out a hard-earned 1-1 draw in Pakistan last month under challenging conditions.
Earlier, after incessant rain interrupted the exciting contest, South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt won the toss and opted to field against the hosts India.
Arshdeep Singh has enough experience to understand that the Indian team management is trying different combinations looking at the bigger picture, bowling coach Morne Morkel said.
Senuran Muthusamy and Marco Jansen made Indian finger spinners' look ordinary in good batting conditions with invaluable lower-order contributions as South Africa seized control of the second Test.
The Indian women's team is set to leave for New Delhi from Mumbai on Tuesday for a special meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to celebrate their World Cup triumph.
Deepti Sharma, the World Cup's leading wicket-taker who took a magnificent 5/39 in the final, is joined by teammates Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues in World Cup's Team of the Tournament.
Countering Bumrah before spinners come into play will be key for SA: Graeme Smith
Pakistan collapsed from 362-5 to 378 all out as Muthusamy finished with Test best figures of 6-117.
India A skipper Rishabh Pant will look to build on the gains from the first match, while the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav will aim for crucial red-ball game time in the second four-day match against a Temba Bavuma-led South Africa A in Bengaluru from Thursday.
Leg-spinner Alana King's spellbinding wizardry formed the cornerstone of Australia's seven-wicket triumph over South Africa as the defending champions concluded the Women's World Cup league stage firmly on top of the table in Indore on Saturday.
The Indians have not featured in ODIs in recent months but Kuldeep Yadav (650) and Ravindra Jadeja (616) still remained static at number three and number nine in the latest ODI rankings for bowlers.
Pant took a bit to settle into his rhythm behind the stumps, and once he came to terms with the surface and bowlers the wicketkeeper was quite tidy.
South Africa coach Shukri Conrad was overwhelmed to see his spinners rule the roost in the first Test against India at the Eden Gardens, signalling to him that the Rainbow Nation is no longer an exclusive "fast bowling country" and hoped that a lot more slow bowlers will emerge.
Kagiso Rabada underwent a scan on Monday following an inflammation of his right ankle after which the 30-year-old was ruled out of the three-match series.
India's awe-inspiring batting depth will face a stern test against South Africa's quality spin attack in the first Test, starting in Kolkata on Friday.
Shubman Gill's form in the series is a concern for India as he has now gone six games without a half-century.
South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt said that once their Women's World Cup contest against Sri Lanka was reduced to 20 overs a side, she treated it like a T20 game and came out to bat with the same mindset, in Colombo, on Friday.
Harmanpreet Kaur, Smrit Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, and Jemimah Rodrigues are poised to see an uplift of 25 to 35 per cent in brand value.
As India chase history at home in Navi Mumbai, while Laura Wolvaardt's South Africa will look to script their own fairytale, by finally breaking their run of heartbreaks at ICC events.
After bowling out SA A for 309, overnight 299/9, in the first session, India succumbed to their own waywardness, and the relentlessness of off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen (5/61), to concede an innings lead of 75.
A rampaging England thrashed South Africa by 342 runs in the third and final ODI in Southampton on Sunday to register the biggest victory in men's One-Day Internationals.
Bengal will be bolstered by the return of veteran pacer Mohammed Shami who has who has been out of India contention since the Champions Trophy.
