SA vs IND: Strongest playing XI of India for first Test

The emergence of the Omicron variant in South Africa put India’s tour of the rainbow nation in jeopardy. Because the players will enter the bio bubble in this series, the BCCI was discussing with the CSA the possibility of shortening the tour. Furthermore, all of the matches will most likely be held behind closed doors.

After negotiations, the tour was postponed by a week and the first Test will start on December 26th followed by two T20Is and three ODIs. The four-match T20 series has been postponed till a later date, which will be notified by the BCCI.

The Test squad for the visiting team, India, was just announced, and there were no surprises. Gill, Jadeja, and Axar missed out due to injuries and all the major players were back into the squad after taking a rest in the home series against New Zealand. Rahane’s vice-captaincy was taken over by Rohit Sharma due to the latter’s poor form. Furthermore, Rohit Sharma suffered a hamstring injury just before joining the bio bubble which ruled him out of the Test series. South Africa also named their team, which included some newcomers such as Marco Jansen and some returning players such as Duanne Olivier. Let’s take a look at-

Strongest India playing XI for first SA Test

1. Mayank Agarwal

The flamboyant batter from Karnataka, Mayank Agarwal, will replace Rohit Sharma in the Playing XI for India. With impressive performances behind his back during the recently held New Zealand series, he would look to capitalize on the limited opportunities he is been provided within the Test format.

Mayank scored a brilliant 150 and followed it up with an outstanding 62 on a surface where other batters failed to score many runs. His explosive batting against the spinners was the highlight of that innings. His elusive inside-out shots over the bowlers’ heads were pleasing to the eyes. He would look to make a mark in South Africa where the pitches will have a lot more pace and the ball would nicely come into the bat.

The 30-year old will be wary of his weakness against the new ball. His stance makes it really difficult for him to counter the swinging ball. He, often, edges the ball or plays down the wrong line which opens him up. If he works on and counters this weakness, he could plunder a lot of runs in the rainbow nation and eventually seal his spot in the Playing XI.

2. KL Rahul

KL Rahul will be a batter who will come into the side after solid performances in the previous England series. He was injured during the series against New Zealand and will be back ahead of Shubman Gill as the first-choice opener in the Tests against South Africa.

KL struggled a lot against outswingers prior to the England tour and drastically improved on the tour. As a result, he was able to overcome the nagging lines and score freely throughout the series. However, he became much more vulnerable to LBWs and incoming deliveries as a result of this. He needs to put in more effort in that area if he is to give an effective method to counteract the threat posed by South African speedsters.

His recent performance in England was phenomenal. The Karnataka batter hit over 300 runs in the series, including a century at Lords. If he can counter inswinging deliveries, he can score a lot of runs in South Africa, which has a lot more bounce and is ideal for batting.

3. Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara hasn’t been in great form recently, but he’ll be in the starting XI to hold this Indian side intact. For the Indian squad to win Test matches, his ability to blunt fast bowlers will be critical. He’ll be the fulcrum around which the batting order will revolve, so he’ll need to be on top of his game to contribute to the team.

The Saurashtra batter hasn’t scored a hundred in two years and will be keen to make a comeback. He prefers to bat on these surfaces since they have a lot of pace and bounce. In Australia, he had a lot of success, and the pitches in South Africa would be very similar. He should be able to anchor the batting innings while allowing the other players to circulate around him freely.

Furthermore, this could be his final chance to solidify his spot in the starting XI for a few years. The Indian team administration is already preparing backups for his job, and if he fails to score again, Pujara’s career may be well over.

4. Virat Kohli(C)

Virat Kohli, India’s captain, has been on an abnormally long dry hiatus, with his last century coming against Bangladesh in November 2019. He has been scoring a fair amount of runs but has never crossed the three-figure mark. After letting go of his ODI and T20I captaincies to manage his workload, this series will once again be one to watch for Kohli’s redemption.

Kohli has to hold the middle order and has to score some runs now. The trio of Pujara, Kohli, and Rahane failing together means there is a lot of pressure on the openers who have the toughest task of facing the new ball. If any of these three players start scoring, the team will appear to be a lot better and more settled as a unit. After Rahane and Pujara’s spots are in jeopardy, the onus lies on Kohli to score runs in the middle order.

Kohli’s leadership has been exceptional, and he will continue to do so. It will be interesting to see how he collaborates with Dravid because their personalities are so distinct. In addition, due to the absence of Jadeja, he will have difficulty maintaining the team’s balance, and it will be interesting to see how he resolves this.

5. Hanuma Vihari

In this batting line-up, Hanuma Vihari will be the first choice player to replace Ajinkya Rahane. With so much international experience, he’ll be eager to get a long rope this time and make the most of opportunities. Vihari played a key role in the drawn Test match against Australia in Sydney earlier this year but has since been sidelined due to injuries.

He was left out of the home series against New Zealand, which caused quite a stir. He was, however, chosen for India A’s tour of South Africa and has put up strong performances in the unofficial four-day games. This earned him a spot in the Indian team, and he’ll be hoping to continue his excellent form on this crucial tour.

Hanuma is a good part-time bowler who can bowl and hold one end to keep the pacers fresh at the other end, in addition to his batting. He may pair up with Ashwin on day four and five and exploit the roughs in the pitch to spin a web around the South African batters.

6. Rishabh Pant(WK)

Rishabh Pant will be the first choice wicketkeeper ahead of Saha in this playing XI. His ability to score freely and at a significant level will be crucial in South Africa, where the surfaces will have a lot more bounce and pace. Rishabh has made significant progress in his wicketkeeping talents and will be eager to continue to do so in situations when his ability to keep wicket will be put to the test.

Rishabh has had a lot of success in Australia, so he should have no difficulty batting on these pitches, which have a similar bounce. Outside the off-stump, though, he struggled and was poking a lot more, resulting in a significant increase in caught-behind dismissals. To maximize his abilities, he needs to be much more composed on the lines outside off-stump.

On day four and five, Rishabh’s wicketkeeping talents will be put to the test even more, since the surfaces will have varying bounce. He’ll be a crucial part of this setup, and his job will be much more difficult because he’ll be largely batting with the tail-enders, adapting to the circumstances.

7. Ravi Ashwin

After Ravindra Jadeja’s injury, Ravichandran Ashwin has become a virtual certainty in the playing XI. Ashwin will be a crucial cog in this setup, and he will be tasked with the most critical assignment of all: lengthening India’s batting lineup.

In this series, Ashwin’s batting will almost certainly be more important than his bowling. He’ll have to bat with the tail in the absence of Ravindra Jadeja. He has the capacity to bat effectively, but he has mainly underperformed with the bat in foreign countries. He may struggle against the pace bowlers, but he is India’s best option to bat with the tail.

In terms of bowling, Ashwin will undoubtedly be a significant improvement over Ravindra Jadeja. He does far more in the air than on the pitch, which is evidence of his international success. With his variations, he can outsmart the South African batters who are not known to be good players of spin. His role will be much more important on days four and five, as he will be able to exploit the rough patches on the surface and generate a vicious amount of turn.

8. Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur, a Mumbai-based all-rounder, was the architect of India’s legendary victories at the Gabba and the Oval. His invaluable contributions, both with the bat and with the ball, enabled India to achieve historic victories in overseas assignments. Because of his multifaceted qualities, he will once again be critical to Team India’s success.

Shardul was the rescue man with the bat in both the Test matches. At the Gabba, he formed a crucial partnership with Washington Sundar, and at the Oval, he annihilated the English bowling in both innings. In decisive occasions, he stepped up, and this trait will be even more needed in South Africa. Thakur has all the shots in his book. He can hit some lovely drives and go after the bowlers to help the team score more runs. This talent will be absolutely essential in extending Team India’s batting innings.

Shardul, along with Ashwin, is accountable for managing the run flow with the ball. If the surface has some swing and seam movement, he’ll be even more lethal, and he’ll be able to provide breakthroughs at crucial junctures in the game. His ability to take wickets against the flow of play would be imperative for India to break the partnerships.

9. Mohammed Shami

In recent years, Mohammed Shami has been the most improved bowler in the Test team. He is currently recognized as having the finest seam position in the world. If the surface allows for some seam movement, he can demolish any batting line-up with his upright seam.

He bowls at a furious pace and is capable of making important game-changing breakthroughs. In his arsenal, he has a wide range of options. He has the ability to bowl the occasional bouncer and create seam movement off the pitch to unsettle batters. He’ll be the spearhead of the bowling attack, partnering with Bumrah with the new ball to make early inroads.

Batting at no.9, his role with the bat will be required as well. During the England series, he appeared to be more compact in his defense, and even his minor contributions with the bat have the potential to affect the game’s outcome. While batting with the tail, he needs to provide some batting security because he has the capacity to go after any bowler with his bat.

10. Jasprit Bumrah

When Jasprit Bumrah made his debut against South Africa in 2018, many people dismissed him as a red ball bowler who lacked the ability to deliver long stints with the red cherry in hand. With a maiden five-wicket haul in only his third encounter in South Africa, he proved everyone wrong. Now he returns to the rainbow nation, having quickly established himself as one of the top red ball bowlers in the world.

Jasprit Bumrah has mastered every type of delivery imaginable. In South Africa, his outswingers, inswingers, and nip backers will be lethal. Taking a page from his white-ball dominance, Jasprit throws scorching yorkers and sluggish deliveries that disrupt the opposition’s rhythm.

The 27-year-old bowls at a blistering pace and has a potent bouncer in his arsenal. His effectiveness multiplies if he gets any reverse swing, and he piles on the wickets of the opposition. With the recently ended overseas series, he has enhanced his batting ability, and even his modest contributions will have a significant impact on the game.

11. Mohammed Siraj

Siraj’s growth as a bowler has been an inspirational story for cricket lovers in India. Often considered as a wayward bowler with no able line and lengths, Siraj’s comeback in white-ball cricket and subsequently mastering his skills with the red ball has been impressive. In just the third Test of his career, he was leading the bowling attack of India with all the major players down and out because of injuries.

Siraj bowls each ball with contagious enthusiasm and a blistering pace of 140kmph, assisting in the creation of movement even on dead surfaces. With each delivery he bowls, it appears as if he will take a wicket. He’s a hit-the-deck bowler who will thrive on South African wickets, which have a lot more pace and bounce. He has a very deceptive nip backer that comes in sharply and dislodges the stumps of the right-handed batters.

Siraj will be an excellent choice as a third pacer in the bowling attack, particularly replacing Ishant Sharma as the workhorse. Even with the old ball, he can bowl extended spells while maintaining his line length and creating seam movement off the pitch. He possesses the occasional bouncer and slower balls to fool batters, and his success on this tour will be essential.