South Africa vs India: 5 possible combinations for Team India in the 2nd Test

After Team India’s 72-run loss in the first match of the ongoing 3-match Test series against South Africa, there have been a lot of talks about the team’s possible playing XI going into the second match which is scheduled to be played at the SuperSport Park, Centurion.

They went in with five batsmen, Wriddhiman Saha, Hardik Pandya as the all-rounder, off-spinner Ravi Ashwin and three pacers. Taking the conditions and the technique and the recent form of the players into account, we have looked at 5 possible combinations that the Indian think-tank may decide to go with:

1. Combination 1 (Same XI as the first Test)

Playing a Test match overseas is not easy, not at all when you walk into it without having played a single practice game. The Indian batsmen were always going to struggle to adapt to the South African conditions because of their lack of preparation and to make matters worse, the Newlands curators dished out a mouth-watering surface for Vernon Philander & Co. where the ball hooped around corners and barring AB de Villiers and Hardik Pandya, no batsman could get on top of the bowling at any stage of the game.

There may be a school of thought that chopping and changing after just one game will be unfair on the players and probably everyone deserves one more go before their place in the team are reconsidered, but the problem is that it’s only a 3-match Test series and after losing at Newlands, India are in a must-win situation now. So it’s tough for the think tank not to deliberate the changes and just let the same combination have another crack at South Africa.

Possible XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin,  Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

Combination 2 (Rahul in, Dhawan out)

Shikhar Dhawan has been a prolific run-scorer in Test match cricket for India of late, but his runs have come in the subcontinent on pitches of Sri Lanka and India. The 32-year-old left-hander, however, is not considered technically equipped to tackle overseas conditions well and the way he went about his business at Newlands, he wouldn’t have done his reputation any good at all.

Dhawan was bounced out by the Proteas bowlers in both the innings. While in the first innings, he misjudged the length of the ball and went for the pull on a delivery which was not short enough, he just surrendered himself to Morne Morkel’s steep bounce when he walked in to bat second time around in the game.

India have another specialist opener available in the squad in KL Rahul who, only in the second Test match of his career at the SCG against Australia, had scored a magnificent hundred. He is a bit more organised in comparison and has a tighter defence at his disposal. While he is also a positive player, Rahul is not quite a go-getter like Dhawan and is someone who can be relied upon in testing batting conditions. The Karnataka opener will surely be in the mix when the team management sits down to pick the XI for the second Test match.

Possible XI: KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

Combination 3 (Parthiv and Rahul in, Saha and Dhawan out)

While Wriddhiman Saha has been absolutely flawless with the gloves for India in Test match Cricket, the team management hasn’t got a lot of trust in his batting as he has been batting behind the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Hardik Pandya and the fact that the management doesn’t rate Saha’s batting credentials enough to put him at 6 (although he was promoted at 6 in the second innings at Newlands, it hasn’t been the case too often in the last 12 months), it makes India’s tail that much longer. In a combination of 5 batsmen and 5 bowlers, the keeper must be good enough to bat 6.

Saha’s problem is that he is a predominantly front foot player and doesn’t have the backfoot shots in his armoury. South African pitches generate more bounce on or around the good length areas than what a batsman generally has to tackle on those areas in the subcontinent. So the lengths which you can play on front foot in places like India and Sri Lanka, you have to be on the back-foot negotiating the same lengths in South Africa.

Parthiv Patel is someone who has the back foot game. He is a cutter and puller of the ball rather than a driver. He hangs back and does not quite commit himself on the front foot like Saha does and thus gives himself an opportunity to bring the horizontal bat shots into play as well. He is probably better equipped with the bat for South African pitches and will be an option to replace Saha.

Possible XI: KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Parthiv Patel (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

Combination 4 (Rahane and Rahul in, Ashwin and Dhawan out)

The last time the Indian cricket team went on an overseas cycle during the period of 2013-15 where they played Test series against South Africa, New Zealand, England and Australia, Ajinkya Rahane was India’s best batsman as he scored runs in all the four countries. The Mumbai cricketer showed the right technique and temperament to excel against seam bowling as well as pace, bounce and looked completely at home in tough batting conditions of the Southern hemisphere.

He, however, suffered a blip in form in the home season and on account of that, was dropped from the Newlands Test. The Indian captain Virat Kohli went with Rohit Sharma who added a hundred and a fifty to his name in the last series against Sri Lanka. That move didn’t work though as Rohit had a couple of poor outings with the bat and he failed to justify his selection. However, since he was picked on “form”, dropping him after just one Test match will be illogical and to some extent unfair as well.

If India have to accommodate both Rohit and Rahane in the XI, one of the ways to do that is to drop Ravichandran Ashwin and go with only three specialist bowlers and an all-rounder in Hardik Pandya who fared up quite decently with the ball under the helpful conditions of Newlands. If the team management backs Hardik as a bowler and thinks he can do the job as well as a specialist quick, they may decide to go with him as the 4th bowling option and get the batting stronger by slotting Rahane at 5 and pushing Rohit down to 6.

Possible XI: KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

Combination 5 (Parthiv and Rahane in, Dhawan and Saha out)

Apart from dropping Ashwin, the other way to have both Rohit and Rahane in the line-up is by opening with Parthiv Patel. The Gujarat southpaw has opened for India in Test cricket in the past and has some good innings to his name at the top of the order. He is also a stroke player and goes for his shots fearlessly if the scoring opportunity presents itself. If he gets going and picks a few boundaries away early, it will put pressure back on the South African bowlers who will be keen to call the shots once again.

The 32-year-old will also form a left-right combination with Murali Vijay which always makes it tough for the bowlers as they have to change their angles when the strike is rotated. If Parthiv opens with Vijay, it creates a slot in the middle order where Rahane can fit in. But will it be sensible enough to go with a makeshift opener in bowler-friendly conditions? That’s the big question.

Possible XI: Parthiv Patel (WK), Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah