SA vs IND: Sunil Gavaskar expecting 'lots of runs' from India against toned down South Africa

After drawing the T20I series and dominating the Proteas in the ODI series, India will shift its focus to the upcoming two-match Test series against South Africa. The first Test of the series will be played at the SuperSport Park in Centurion from December 26.

The visitors will be led by Rohit Sharma and will boast many senior players in the squad. With the first Test around the corner, former Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar has backed the Indian batters to score heavily against the Proteas. Gavaskar opined that the Indian team has experienced batters and even stated that the South African bowling attack does not have that much of an edge.

"They are experienced batters, who are coming after playing everywhere, so I expect them to score lots of runs in these two Test matches. Not only because they have got so much talent, but this time around, I think the South African attack does not have that edge,” Gavaskar told Star Sports. 

He also added that the absence of star players like Anrich Nortje and the potential unavailability of Kagiso Rabada could come to hurt the hosts. 

"With the absence of Nortje, with the likely absence of Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, the South African attack looks a little bit short on experience, I am not saying short of class. So I feel these two batters will score lots of runs and help the Indian team post a big score,” Gavaskar added.

The challenge would be to get your mental state into a Test match situation: Gavaskar

Gavaskar also talked of the mental state of skipper Rohit Sharma ahead of the Test series. The former batter opined that Rohit should look to change his aggressive approach in Test cricket. It is worth noting that the Indian skipper put in brilliant performances to give India the best of starts in the ODI World Cup 2023.

"First and foremost, the challenge would be to get your mental state into a test match situation. He has been batting in the ODI format where he had decided that he was going to be playing the attacking role and try and score as many runs as possible in the first 10 overs of field restrictions,” Gavaskar said.

“He will have to change the approach completely for Test cricket because he will have to think in terms of batting the whole day. If he bats the whole day, then, clearly with the range of shots that he has got, he will be able to end up with 180 or 190 not out at the end of the day and India will be 300-plus,” he added.