SA v IND 2018: Indian players asked to cut down their shower time to two minutes

The Indian players in South Africa have been caught off-guard as they have been asked not to take shower for more than two minutes during the first Test. Newlands in Cape Town will host the first of the three-match series and the state is struggling with the drought issues for quite some time now. There is a scarcity of water and the officials have already laid down few restrictions on the usage of water. However, it seems to be a one-off issue and the things are expected to get better as the teams would move to Centurion and Johannesburg.

The less amount of water will also have its impact on the pitch for the first Test as the curator admitted earlier this week that they are struggling to keep the grass on the wicket. For the starters though, there would be grass on the 22 yards but it will get slow as the match progresses and even might turn much to the joy of the visitors. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja would be licking their lips on the third and fourth day if the wicket begins to crack.

The news of Indian players being asked to cut down their bathing time to two minutes was confirmed by News 18. The visitors won’t seem to be perturbed much by the issue as their main aim is to break the jinx in the country and win the series for the first time in 25 years.

India’s combination for the first Test

While Shikhar Dhawan has been declared fit for the first Test, the overall team combination is yet to be finalised. KL Rahul will warm the bench but the decision on Ravindra Jadeja who is struggling with viral fever will be taken on the morning of the match. It also remains to be seen if Hardik Pandya is preferred ahead of Rohit Sharma in the line-up. The bowling attack looks lethal this time around but one of Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma is likely to be missing with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami certain to play barring last-minute injuries.

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