IND vs SA Test: Team India is ready to win the series in South Africa after 31 years
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After the heart-breaking defeat in the final of the ODI World Cup 2023, senior players like Indian captain Rohit Sharma, star batsman Virat Kohli, bowling sensation Jasprit Bumrah are ready to return to the field. The first match of the two-match Test series in Centurion will start from Tuesday.
India will leave no stone unturned to end its 31-year wait to win the Test series in South Africa. The two-Test series between India and South Africa will start from Tuesday. This will be India’s ninth Test series in South Africa since 1992.
India has not won a single test series in this country till now. This is the reason why, like always, the current series is also being called the ‘last fort’ for the team led by Rohit Sharma. But heavy rain has been predicted for the first two days of the match to be held at SuperSport Park.
The Centurion wicket offers pace and uneven bounce which is likely to be a close contest. Rohit Sharma had a chance to equal Kapil Dev and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the ODI World Cup, but due to the defeat by Australia in the final, he could not become the world-winning captain.
Now Rohit Sharma has a chance to become the first Indian captain to win a Test series in South Africa and he will not let it go. It will be fun to see Virat and Jasprit Bumrah along with Rohit. The team will definitely miss Mohammed Shami.
India failed in South Africa under the captaincy of Mohammad Azharuddin (1992), Sachin Tendulkar (1996) and Sourav Ganguly (2001). Rahul Dravid (2006-07), Dhoni (2010-11 and 2013-14) and Virat Kohli (2018-19 and 2021-22) won Test matches but no team could win the series.
This could be the last tour of South Africa for some of India’s star cricketers and they will certainly be desperate to make it memorable. South Africa, led by Temba Bavuma, has some good fast bowlers who can create problems for India’s young batsmen.
The real test of opening batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal will be in front of bowlers like Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Marco Janson and Gerald Coetzee. Similarly, batsmen like Shubhman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, who have proven themselves on the pitches of the subcontinent, will have to prove themselves in more challenging conditions. Will have to perform the best.
Short pitch ball has been considered to be Iyer’s weakness and he will have to do something special to overcome it. Head coach Rahul Dravid does not want Jaiswal and Gill to change their style but he wants them to bat as per the conditions.
India’s performance, however, will depend on three factors. First, how well captain Rohit Sharma performs hook and pull shots. Secondly, for how long does Virat Kohli decide to leave the balls going outside the off-stump and thirdly, how does the team compensate for the absence of Mohammed Shami.
In place of Shami, either Mukesh Kumar or the famous Krishna can be chosen. South Africa has good batsmen in the form of Bavuma, Dean Elgar, who has announced his retirement after this series, stylish Aiden Markram, young Tony de Jorzi and Keegan Pietersen who can trouble the Indian bowlers.
KL Rahul will play the responsibility of wicketkeeper in this match. Everyone’s attention will also be on how Rahul, who has played this role well in limited overs cricket, will perform behind the wicket in the longer format. This will be another Test match played abroad in which off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin may have to sit out due to conditions and team combination.
At SuperSport Park, the result is usually declared within four days, but if the first day’s play is washed out due to rain and the toss is held on the second day, then batting first will definitely be a difficult task. In such a situation, winning the toss can be beneficial for India.
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