India vs South Africa: Tactical insights as excitement builds for high-stakes Test series

Rishabh Pant trains ahead of the 1st Test against South Africa (BCCI Photo)

India versus South Africa is a marquee Test match. The build up is proof there is huge excitement among fans. The familiar queues for tickets are back and everything points to fascinating five days of action. The curator too is doing his best to prepare a good deck which will give the home team an advantage and it is now all set for the first ball to be bowled on Friday (November 14).

What will be India’s playing XI and can there be any real surprises in the team that is picked? The answer is not really. 10 players pick themselves with Nitish Kumar Reddy released for India A duty and the only debate is over Kuldeep Yadav versus Axar Patel. My personal take is India will or should go in with Kuldeep Yadav for he is an out and out match winner and on a good deck could be more effective than Axar in the first half of the Test match.

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Also, with Washington Sundar batting at 8, India will not be needing Axar with the bat as much and Kuldeep too isn’t a complete muck lower down the order. Having said that Axar is a fine cricketer and has always done well for India.

The rest of the players just pick themselves. India will open with Jaiswal and Rahul and it will be Sai Sudarshan at number 3. He is being looked upon as a long term investment and India will back the much talented youngster to come good. Sai is still searching for that big score and it will be wonderful for him and India if he gets it this series. At four will be the captain Shubman Gill followed by vice captain Rishabh Pant at five. As I have argued elsewhere, Rishabh is Test match royalty. This is his format in many ways and his return is always a hugely welcome sign for India. Not just with the bat but also from behind the stumps, Rishabh will make a difference for India.

At six will be Dhruv Jurel who is in fine form and is coming in riding back to back hundreds for India A against South Africa. Jurel can also keep wickets if need be and will certainly add depth to the batting. Seven and eight are well taken positions for India with Jadeja and Washington Sundar. Both scored hundreds in England and with batting till number 8, it looks a well rounded line up. Nine, ten and eleven will be the three specialist bowlers in Kuldeep, Siraj and Bumrah.

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In this team the only issue is the lack of one additional fast bowling option. With no Akash Deep or no Nitish Reddy, India could just be a bowler short on days one and two if South Africa bat’s first. But then that’s where Kuldeep Yadav can make a difference. He has the ability to pick wickets on good decks and in home conditions could have impact.

The stage is finally set and with the weather near perfect, it can indeed be a fantastic Test match. Look out for my pieces on Moneycontrol for all the flavour.