The Indian men’s cricket team have a chance to rewrite the history books in the third Test against South Africa at Cape Town. A win for the Virat Kohli led side will mean they’d have bagged a first ever Test series victory in South Africa, which is quite in line with exploits in Australia (twice) and England.
In what is a winner takes all Test in Cape Town, the pressure will be on both the sides and one of the things that will have the most impact on deciding the contest pans out will be the selection of the playing eleven.
While South Africa are largely expected to retain their XI, the visitors are set to make at least a couple of changes. Indian captain Virat Kohli is back from injury while fast bowler Mohammed Siraj will not make it in time after injuring his hamstring in the second Test.
Who Sits Out for Virat Kohli?
After missing out on the second Test due to a back injury, the Indian Test captain is back and will be keen to do his thing on the field against the South Africans. Once fit, it is highly unlikely that Kohli will not slot into the middle order for the Test side, which means one of the batters from Johannesburg will warm the benches.
India went in with a middle order of Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant and Hanuma Vihari for the second Test. While the scanner has been on Pujara and Rahane for their poor run of scores in previous outings, half centuries from both in the second innings might just have saved them their spots for Cape Town.
The team management back Pant to the hilt and are likely to ask Vihari to take a back seat in Cape Town. Vihari, one of the heroes of India’s tour of Australia last season, has not been a regular in the XI and despite a crucial 40 not out in the second innings, it is set up for him sit out the third Test.
What also points in favour of the tried and tested seniors not being dropped is that head coach Rahul Dravid said after the second Test that the veteran batters will get time now since they’ve also had to do their waiting before.
"If you look at some of our guys now senior players and being sort of considered, senior players, they have also had to wait for their time and also have had to score a lot of runs at the start of their careers," Dravid had said. "So it happens (waiting) as its nature of the sport."
Unless, and one hopes not, there are unforeseen events in the lead up to the Test at Cape Town, India’s top six are likely to be the same as in the first game with Kohli slotting in at four and Pant pushing down below Rahane.
Who Replaces Injured Mohammed Siraj?
Since he made his bow in international cricket, Siraj with his unbridled passion and ability to do the hard yards has mesmerised experts and fans. However, the talented pacer, who also has an aggressive side to him, pulled up with a hamstring injury on the first day of the second Test, and since has not looked like his usual self.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Kohli made it clear that India would not be risking a fast bowler’s fitness. What helps Kohli in such a situation is the fact that there is more than one option to pick from as India look to replace Siraj. For India, sitting in the dugout are veteran bowlers Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav. The duo in fact has the best averages among Indian seamers who have played at least 10 Tests since 2018 (21.37 and 21.26), however neither have had a look in on this tour yet. While Umesh’s last Test was in Mumbai against New Zealand, Ishant played in the first game of that series in Kanpur.
Given the fact that South African pitches are more favourable for the pacers and the home batters can put in a gritty shift, India will most likely need a pacer who can bowl long spells with good intensity.
In such a situation, it is likely that Umesh will get the nod over Ishant as the latter’s fitness is more of a concern than the former’s, who is used to longer spells in domestic cricket.
Both Ishant and Umesh have been at it in the nets, trying to impress the ones who will make the decision finally. Who will get the nod is something we will find out at the toss on Tuesday.
India’s Predicted Playing XI: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami.
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