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Cricket News: 3 big questions for India ahead of the Centurion Test | 3 big questions for Team India ahead of the Centurion Test vs South Africa

The Indian Cricket Team has become a fantastic Test side under the exemplary leadership of Virat Kohli for quite some years now. They have been absolutely ruthless at home, and their performance level in overseas Tests has improved by a huge margin. Moreover, cricket pundits across the world are acknowledging India’s stature as a formidable Test unit, which is a great sight to behold as an Indian fan.

But, the one thing that still hurts fans is that India is yet to win a Test series on South African soil. Although they have a very promising bunch of players this time, there are some issues they need to address before the first Test at the SuperSport Park on Boxing Day.

In this article, I am going to mention three such big questions for team India ahead of the first Test. Here we go.

3 key questions India must answer ahead of the Centurion Test

1. Ishant or Siraj?

Ishant Sharma has been a potent weapon for India particularly in overseas conditions in the last 5-6 years. Since 2014, Ishant has picked 85 wickets at an average of 26.95 and an impressive strike rate of 52.82 in SENA countries. In the process, he has helped India achieve some memorable victories.

Although he bowled some good spells in the England tour, he seemed very wayward at times and took his time to settle in. That relentless consistency was missing in his bowling.

On the other hand, Mohammed Siraj looked more threatening and India started looking at Siraj as an alternative for Ishant. In the recent home series against New Zealand, Siraj was absolutely magnificent, whereas Ishant struggled. So, considering Siraj’s ability as well as current rhythm, I believe India will start with him in Centurion.

2. Will India pick Ashwin or stick with the 4-seamer strategy?

Keeping four seamers in the XI worked well for India in England. Shardul Thakur provided some really handy contributions with the bat and took some very important wickets at crucial stages of the match.

In the absence of Ravindra Jadeja, India will certainly want to have that extra batting depth without compromising their bowling by including Thakur. Further, Ashwin’s record in South Africa is not something to cheer about. Also, the South African pitches are not so ideal for spin bowling. Therefore, I don’t think the Indian management will be desperate to draft Ashwin into the XI unless they run out of pace-bowling options.

3. What is going to be India’s combination down the order in the absence of Ravindra Jadeja?

Ravindra Jadeja has scored 459 runs at a healthy average of 35.30 in England, Australia and New Zealand since 2018. He provides the required depth in the batting without losing the bowling options.

Therefore, India will need to do some brainstorming to find a great combination in his absence. Personally, I feel that India should go with Hanuma Vihari as their number 6 and ask him to roll his arm as a part timer if required. Vihari did brilliantly in the recently concluded three-match series against South Africa A in Bloemfontein as he was the highest run getter for India A with 227 runs at a splendid average of 75.67.

He dealt with the South African pacers quite well and hit three fifties in five innings. But looking at the way they have treated Vihari after the Sydney Test, I don’t see them going immediately with him in the XI. Instead, I feel India will bring Rahane back in the absence of Jadeja to bat at no 5.

Now the key question. Will they drop Shreyas Iyer especially after what he did in his first series to accommodate Hanuma Vihari? There is a definite chance for this to happen, but I don’t think they will do that as Iyer was phenomenal in his debut Test series. Therefore, I feel India might go with Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer as their no. 5 and 6 respectively and let Vihari wait for his chances.  

India’s possible XI for first Test vs South Africa at Centurion

1 KL Rahul, 2. Mayank Agarwal, 3. Cheteshwar Pujara, 4. Virat Kohli (c), 5. Ajinkya Rahane, 6. Shreyas Iyer, 7. Rishabh Pant (wk), 8. Shardul Thakur, 9. Mohammed Shami, 10. Jasprit Bumrah, 11. Mohammed Siraj

Written by Debashish Sarangi. Follow Debashish on Twitter today