SA v IND, 1st Test Preview: Kohli awaits his biggest challenge as the captain of India

People have been waiting for a long time for this series and finally, it’s a whisker away from commencement. India is currently on a purple patch, dismantling everyone who came their way in recent times, but their record in South Africa ain’t commendable. But the visitors this time has a very strong unit, which many believe can create history.

Barring the one occasion under the leadership of MS Dhoni where they drew level in 2010/11, the subcontinent nation has lost everytime they traveled there. This ain’t the most promising stat for an Indian cricket fan, but that’s the reality. The bounce and pace that these tracks offer in the Rainbow nation often managed to keep the Indian batsmen on the backfoot.

But that’s all in the past. This is an Indian unit where the batsmen love the short stuff. Well, they might not love it that much when the ball is whistling past the ears when Rabada or Steyn are operating, but they can pose a strong challenge. The hosts look compact in every department and for the first in the last 18 months, India’s opponents enter as the favorites to win a series.

Toss: South Africa won the toss and opted to bat

Captains quotes

Faf du Plessis: We will have a bat. The wicket is slow and it will get better to bat on as the day wears on. I don’t look too much into stats. The conditions have changed over the last two years. When we played Sri Lanka here it was slow initially and then it quickened up nicely. We are playing four seamers and a spinner which means one less batsman. Temba Bavuma misses out.

Virat Kohli: Looking at the amount of the grass on the wicket and the surface being not that hard, looking at our bowlers’ strength, I think we would have bowled first given ourselves a good crack with the new ball which is because they are playing one batter less. So, we wanted to exploit their batting order unsettle them in the first 15-20 overs with the new ball. We will have three quicks and Hardik Pandya as the all-rounder. Ashwin is the lone spinner. Jasprit Bumarh is making his Test debut. He has come a long way and he has done really well in the limited overs cricket. He is bowling a really heavy ball and he has been the most impressive seamer here in our preparations.

India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah

South Africa (Playing XI): Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel

Playing Combinations

South Africa

Aiden Markram might just retain his place in the squad and accompanying him in the opening department will be Dean Elgar. The experienced Hashim Amla will walk in at number 3 and AB de Villiers will be out at number 4. Skipper Faf du Plessis will be followed by Quinton de Kock, Chris Morris and Vernon Philander in the middle order.

Kagiso Rabada has been brutal in recent times and once again, he will be the key. Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel will be accompanying him in the fast bowling department alongside another exciting fast bowling all-rounder in Chris Morris. Keshav Maharaj is the one sole spinner in the lineup.

Probable XI: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada

India

After all the speculations regarding his injury, Shikhar Dhawan has been announced fit for the 1st Test. He will accompany Murali Vijay at the top, with Cheteshwar Pujara at 3 and Kohli at 4. It’ll be a hard call to drop Rohit Sharma, but eventually, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha and Hardik Pandya will form the middle order.

Ishant Sharma’s experience on these tracks might earn him a place in the XI ahead of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Bumrah. Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami waited long time for their opporunities and proved their worth in recent times. Ravichandran Ashwin will be the only spinner who will make it to the final XI.

Probable XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravi Ashwin, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami

Focus will be on

Kagiso Rabada (South Africa)

Touted as India’s biggest threat in the series, Kagiso Rabada will pose quite a challenge to the visitors. Ranked second amongst the best Test bowlers in the world, Rabada’s meteoric rise speaks volumes of his caliber. The youngster will feel face a stiff competition from the Indian batsmen, but if he’s excelling, this might turn out to be the best in his career.

Virat Kohli (India)

In pursuit to become the greatest batsman of this generation, Kohli has a massive test ahead of him. Sometimes criticized for under performing outside India, Virat Kohli will not get a better opportunity to shut all his critics. The recently married Indian skipper has a point to prove and this is certainly the biggest challenge he has faced in his career as a skipper since his captaincy debut at Adelaide in 2014.

StatAttack

1 – Only one Indian managed to bag a century in this stadium (Sachin Tendulkar).

4 – India played 4 Tests at Newlands, Cape Town. They lost two of them and the other two finished in a stalemate.

5 – Mohammed Shami needs 5 wickets to complete 100 scalps in Tests.