After the T20 and ODI series, India and South Africa are now ready to face each other in the Test format. The first Test is going to be played on November 5 at Mohali.
In T20 and ODI series South Africa completely outclassed India and went on to win both series. It was the first time in history that South Africa won an ODI series against India, in India. The Proteas will definitely be looking to keep on their winning momentum and beat the under pressure Indian team in the first Test. South Africa have been playing tremendous cricket from the past few years. In the past 9 years, they have lost just 1 Test series and that was against Australia in 2009. Other than that they haven’t lost any series either at home or away. This shows how much consistent they are. All of their batsmen are in good form and scoring runs. It’ll be very difficult for India to beat in-form South African team. Hashim Amla will lead South Africa in the Test series. AB de Villiers, who scored 3 centuries in 5-match ODI series, will be playing as a batsman.
The Indian team is under a lot of pressure for not performing well. They are playing in their home conditions but still lost ODI and T20 series. India will work hard to somehow win the 1st Test and if they lose, then this will add insult to injury which India would never want. The Indian team will be lead by the young Virat Kohli who is inconsistent with his performance nowadays. How he performs will be very crucial for team India. Ajinkya Rahane has already been doing well with the bat. He was the only player who performed consistently in the ODI series. Shikhar Dhawan didn’t perform well in ODI series but scored a fifty in the last match which might have boosted his confidence. The pitch is likely to be helpful for the spinners. In 2013 against Australia at that venue Indian spinners took 14 wickets. Australia lost 65 wickets to spinners in that series. So it’s quite evident that spinners will play a key role in the Test series and there would be nothing special for the pace bowlers.
Keep an eye out for
Ravichandran Ashwin’s role will be quite essential for Indian team. The pitch is likely to favour spin bowlers therefore all eyes would be on him. In his last 5 matches, he took 31 wickets which includes one 10-wicket hall as well. He’s useful with the bat too.
Imran Tahir can play a key role for South Africa in the coming Test match. He has taken 7 wickets in the ODI series. Imran is also playing at a stretch for South African team.
