The Board of Control for Cricket in India has announced the Test squad for South Africa tour. The No.1 ranked Test team skippered by Virat Kohli will be leading the team from the vanguard against the big gun South Africa.
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Virat Kohli & Co don’t have enough time for ideal preparations and this is why they are playing in green-pitch conditions during the home series against Sri Lanka.
The first Test match will be played from January 5 at Newlands, Cape Town, followed by the second Test from January 13 at Centurion and finally the third one is scheduled to be played at Johannesburg starting from January 24.
Before the three-match Test series there is a two-day warm-up match at Boland Park, Paarl. This is to make sure that the Indians are well adapted to the conditions.
India will be looking forward to cashing in on the crunch situations of the game. Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan are slated to be the best openers as they have sounded good so far.
Virat Kohli’s insatiable appetite for scoring runs is the biggest tick and it will be a real challenge for him to perform in the unfamiliar territory. Rohit Sharma’s name was coming. He made a comeback after 4 years and it is palpable that he will continue to beef up his form.
Interestingly, Parthiv Patel has been called to the squad. He is an attacking batsman who is in cover for Saha. Jasprit Bumrah is all set to make a Test debut. An incredible pace battery is something that India will be charged to spice it up in the conditions.
It is no doubt that Virat Kohli will once again rely much on the pacers this time despite spinners are also involved. Though Kohli said he won’t confirm the futures of Ashwin and Jadeja for South Africa tour, they are mentioned in the squad now.
India Test squad for South Africa tour:
Virat (Capt), Vijay, Rahul, Shikhar, Pujara, Rahane (vc), Rohit, Saha (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Parthiv, Hardik, Bhuvneshwar, Shami, Ishant, Umesh, Bumrah.
