India pick solid but expected squad for first two Tests against South Africa
By Updated: Oct 19, 2015, 7:58 PM IST
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India finally picked their team for the first two Tests against the visiting South Africans. The team did not contain any major surprises, with the only significant change from the team that beat Sri Lanka being the return of Ravindra Jadeja in place of Harbhajan Singh. That aside, the team continues to be led by Virat Kohli, with Wriddhiman Saha keeping wickets. Interestingly, India have packed their squad with bowlers — both pacers and spinners — which is in tune with skipper Kohli’s focus on playing 5 bowlers with the aim to take 20 wickets in order to win Tests. Kohli recently won his first series as captain, which was also India’s first overseas series win since 2011. The squad that will take on South Africa is fairly similar. Batsmen: India had to fiddle around with the opening combination in Sri Lanka due to the injuries picked up by regular openers Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan. As many as four openers were used in three Tests with KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara stepping in when required. Vijay and Dhawan are likely to keep opening though, while Pujara’s place in the line-up remains a bit of a question. Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma are certainties given their performances in the Sri Lankan tour, which means that unless India intend on playing six batsmen and a wicketkeeper, Pujara is likely to miss out. This will mean Rahane continues at No. 3 followed by Kohli, Rohit, and the ‘keeper Wriddhiman Saha. All-rounders: India have picked three all-rounders in the squad, of which at least two are likely to play. Stuart Binny bowled well in the Test series in unhelpful Sri Lankan conditions, and may be persisted with for the Mohali Test. If fit, Ravichandran Ashwin is a certainty in the line-up, which will mean Ravindra Jadeja will miss out. However, given Jadeja’s pristine form in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2015-16, his chances of making it to the playing XI are significantly boosted. Moreover, if India plan on attacking with spin on all fronts then Jadeja and Ashwin could play simultaneously at Binny’s expense. Bowlers: Amit Mishra, who actually batted ahead of Ashwin in the last Test in Sri Lanka, is another certainty in the bowling department. Ashwin and Mishra will be India’s main bowlers, with the pacers performing a back-up role. Ishant Sharma will again lead the pace attack, but it will be a throw-up between Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, and Varun Aaron for the role of the second pacer. Overall, India’s squad contains no major surprises, and is a formidable unit in home conditions. They will be high on confidence after beating Sri Lanka, but they also know that South Africa are hands down the best travellers in the world. Much will depend on how well the Indian batsmen cope with the South African pace attack, and how well Indian spinners manage to bowl. Kohli’s captaincy will be tested the way it has never been before. It is also interesting to note that Rahane has played only one Test in India, while Rohit has played just two and Dhawan three. As far as international experience goes, Dale Steyn, Hashim Amla, and AB de Villiers have more experience playing in Indian conditions than Rahane, Rohit, and Dhawan. One thing is certain; the signs all point to an engaging Test series between two quality sides. India’s squad for the Test series against South Africa: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), KL Rahul, Stuart Binny, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron and Ishant Sharma.(Shiamak Unwalla is proud Whovian and all-round geek who also dabbles in cricket writing as a reporter with CricketCountry. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)
