FINAL FRONTIER
Team combination on captain’s mind as India take on SA
Centurion, Dec. 25: Skipper Virat Kohli will be battling on multiple fronts with an aim to get the tricky team combination right as India have a real shot at winning their first ever away series against South Africa, which is short on experience going into the contest, starting with the Boxing Day Test.
The choice between an untested rookie like Shreyas Iyer and a proven but out-of-form Ajinkya Rahane for the number five slot, is not an enviable one. It’s more like choosing between rock and hard place with fear of unknown being a persistent factor.
Not to mention the hard call on whether Shardul Thakur with far superior skills should be the fifth bowler in place of an ‘over the hill’ Ishant Sharma.
These are not easiest of decisions to make that require copious amounts of tactical acumen mixed in equal proportion with proper communication skills.
In Mumbai, during the New Zealand Test, the team management could “rest” both Rahane and Ishant on the pretext of niggles but if on Sunday, the duo doesn’t figure in the playing eleven, it will be as good as being dropped.
In the last Test, they were “unofficially dropped” and in this one, they will be officially dumped.
Since their historic first visit in 1992, the tour to Rainbow Nation has been an ‘Achilles’ Heel’ for the touring Indian teams and skipper Kohli, who is certainly veering towards the business end of his leadership tenure, will like to achieve a first.
South Africa is no longer the force to reckon with in international cricket as they have been going through a rough transition phase over the past few years. Kohli’s men would like to pounce on the jittery Proteas like hungry African lions as the visitors have way more quality in its ranks than the home team which is full of rookies.
However an away Test series with some interesting sub-plots and hidden narratives adds to the intrigue of the battle that lies ahead and especially for ‘King Kohli’.
This particular series, where even if he emphatically denies in public sphere, will be fighting multiple battles — some tangible ones and a few intangibles.
First and foremost, Kohli, the captain, who would like to reassert his supremacy with a victory against a side which has only two players with 50 plus games — skipper Dean Elgar (69 Tests) and senior keeperbatter Temba Bavuma (53 Tests). —