‘Only one opener will score more than 50 runs, the game would end in a draw’ – Aakash Chopra on South Africa vs India 1st Test

Team India is geared up to chase history as they take on South Africa in a three-match Test series. The action gets underway on December 26 (Sunday) with the Boxing Day clash at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. As the rainbow nation is the only country where India haven’t won a Test series yet, Virat Kohli’s men would be raring to get this box ticked.

In order to do so, the visitors must put their best foot forward in the Centurion Test. Notably, the conditions would be overcast and rain is expected to hinder the contest as well. Hence, the fast bowlers would be in action throughout the game. Speaking of the same, former Indian batter predicted that only one opener across both teams would touch the 50-run mark. The others would perish cheaply.

“The first thing I feel is that only one opener will score more than 50 runs in the match, maximum one opener. The rest of the openers, however many times they come, will be dismissed cheaply,” said Chopra on his YouTube channel. He further stated that fast bowlers would enjoy operating in these conditions.

Fast bowlers will take more than 25 wickets: Aakash Chopra

“The second thing is that the fast bowlers will take more than 25 wickets. I don’t think the spinners will be dominant in this match or on this pitch. It is possible 40 wickets might not fall but if they fall, fast bowlers might take more than 30 wickets,” added Chopra.

For the unversed, South African tracks are known to favour pacers with bounce being offered. Hence, both teams are likely to field a heavy pace attack with a lone spinner in the line-up. Meanwhile, Chopra also expects quite a few batters to be dismissed through catches by the wicket-keeper or in the slip cordon.

“Ten catches will be taken behind the wickets, in the slips or caught behind. That is an easy one that they will go either to the keeper or the slips,” added the 43-year-old. As mentioned above, rain is expected to play a spoilsport. Considering the same, Chopra reckons the game would end in a draw.

“I feel that this match will be a draw. I am not expecting a result because there is a huge possibility of rain, although the match might run fast because there has been a lot of rain and the grass on the pitch will be slightly fresh. But rain might cause too many interruptions,” he added.