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New Delhi. Committed to winning their maiden Test series in South Africa, it will be a challenge for the Indian team to hit the ground with the right combination for the first Test starting on ‘Boxing Day’. It will not be easy for skipper Virat Kohli to pick between the less experienced Shreyas Iyer and the experienced but in-form Ajinkya Rahane as the number five batsman. Not only this, one will also have to work hard to choose between Shardul Thakur or Ishant Sharma as the fifth bowler.
In the Mumbai Test against New Zealand, Rahane and Ishant were ruled out as injured, but if they fail to make it to the playing XI in the first Test, they will be deemed to have been dropped. India had toured South Africa for the first time in 1992 but they have not yet won a Test series here. In such a situation, Kohli would like to leave no stone unturned to become the first captain to achieve this feat.
South Africa is no longer a strong team in international cricket as it has been going through a period of change over the years. In view of this, it is being considered as the best opportunity for Virat Kohli and his team. The Indian team looks better than its rival team and if it proves itself better on the field as well then it will also be able to win the series in South Africa for the first time.
This series is important in many ways for the Indian team especially Kohli and he will be determined to make it memorable. Kohli will look to dominate a team whose only two players, captain Dean Elgar (69 Tests) and wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock (53 Tests) have played more than 50 matches. There is good news for India that one of the world’s fastest bowlers, Enrique Narkia, will not be there to support Kagiso Rabada. As far as the Indian batsmen are concerned, they will not worry much about left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj.
While Kohli will have to get the best out of his players against a team that is considered relatively weak, he will also have to play a big innings himself as he has not been able to score a century in international cricket since 2019. Meanwhile, his average was less than 30, which is not in favor of his fame. Before the start of the tour, Kohli started a new discussion by targeting Sourav Ganguly, President and former captain of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). But those who know Kohli understand that such incidents motivate the Indian captain to perform well.
Kohli looked in good form during the net session. Along with this, he would like vice-captain KL Rahul to repeat his performance of England and Cheteshwar Pujara also makes a big score. For the number five batsman, Iyer seems to have the upper hand over Ajinkya Rahane but here he will have to deal with the good length balls of a bowler like Duane Oliver. The pitch of Centurion anyway gets faster as the match progresses. Rishabh Pant has also been a good performer in rough conditions and if he hits six sixes on spinner Maharaj with the help of one hand, then captain Kohli will also have no problem. Indian batsmen, however, need to be careful with Rabada and Duane.
Jasprit Bumrah can make a difference between the two teams with his fast bowling. He is making a comeback from rest and is ready to take the tough test of batsmen like Elgar, Temba Bavuma and De Kock. If Bumrah and Mohammed Shami dominate the top order, then it will not be easy for the rest of the South African batsmen to face Ravichandran Ashwin.
The teams are as follows:
India: Virat Kohli (capt), KL Rahul (vice captain), Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (Wicketkeeper), Jayant Yadav, Priyank Panchal, Umesh Yadav, Hanuma Vihari, Ishant Sharma.
South Africa: Dean Elgar (capt), Temba Bavuma (vice-captain), Quinton de Kock (wk), Kagiso Rabada, Sarel Ervi, Beuran Hendrix, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Aiden Markram, Viaan Mulder, Keegan Pietersen, Rasi Van der Dussen, Kyle Verne, Marco Jensen, Glenton Sturman, Prenelan Subrian, Sisanda Magala, Ryan Rickelton, Duane Oliver.
