India Squad for the Test Series against South Africa 2021-2022

 

India and South Africa are all set to play a test match. The series will begin on December 26 and excitement among fans is already on cloud 7. However, India never won this test series; and this time the whole country will be looking forward to Indian Players getting the trophy home. The team will be missing the mainstay Shubham Gill and Rohit Sharma, still the Virat Kohli side is standing strong. From South Africa, Anrich Nortje will not be playing due to injuries. 

Indian Test Squad

Here is the list of Indian Squad for Test Series of India vs South Africa 

Batsmen: Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli & Wriddhiman Saha (WK)

All-rounders: Jayant Yadav & Ravichandran Ashwin 

Bowlers: Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur & Umesh Yadav 

Captain: Virat Kohli

Vice-captain: KL Rahul

Coach: Rahul Dravid 

Expected Batting and Bowling Lineup

Team India has evolved in the last few years and is now considered the best Cricket Team across the planet. As per the performance of players in the last matches, here is the batting and bowling lineup of the Indian Squad against South Africa:

Match Openers - Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul

As Rohit Sharma will not be playing in the test, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal are the primary choices for the opener position. KL Rahul performed well against England and Mayank was incredible against New Zealand. As per research both of them will be the first choice for the match opening. 

Mid Order Players - Shreyas Iyer, Hanuman Vihari, and Virat Kohli (C) 

The planning for middle-order players will be quite challenging for team India. There will be confusion in whom to trust, the experience of Cheteshwar Pujara or Ajinkya Rahane, or players who are in form Hanuman Vihari and Shreyas Iyer. As per history,  India will go for experienced players over the new ones. But as per the current condition, Hanuman Vihari and Shreyas Iyer will be ideal choices. 

The reason for going for new ones is that Rahane and Pujara both have not been in touch with the game for almost 2 years. Also, Pujara has scored only 849 runs in 32 innings with an average of 27.4. He didn’t even make a century and Rahane scored 683 runs in 29 innings at 24.4. 

In comparison, both Iyer and Vihari, are in good form. Vihari scored 50+ consecutively three times for the team and Iyer scored a century and 50 for the team's debut match. It will be a good choice of sending Vihari at 3 and Iyer in 5th position. India has enough good players for a strong batting lineup, let’s see what team they will be choosing. 

For the last order - Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Shardul Thakur

The batting order of the last order batsmen will be very interesting. As a team, India whether go for 5 bowlers including Ashwin and Shradul, or go for extra batsmen with Ashwin or Shradul. Till 8, the batting position team can rely on Shardul and Ashwin. Also, they will be adding good value to the bowling lineup, an overall benefit for the team. 

With the above-discussed batting lineup, Rishabh Pant will be under pressure. As after middle-order, he has to take responsibility for the team. The team can rely on Pant, based on their position in Test Series in the last two years. Position of players like Rishabh Pant -6, Ashwin 7, and Shradul at 8 will be ideal for the match. 

Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj - Pacers

In the bowling lineup, there is also a battle for experienced or new rising stars. Ishant Sharma is an experienced player, whereas Siraj is a new rising star. Sharma has been reliable in the last two years, whereas Siraj is in full form. I think Virat will go for Siraj as he will complement Shammi and Bumrah. This trio of pacers will be supported by the wicket-taker Shradul Thakur. 

So here are the potential 11, who will be playing a test to help India for the first time against South Africa. 

Players to watch out

1. R Ashwin - Ashwin has become the third-highest wicket-taker player in Tests. Eyes will be on R Ashwin as Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja will not be playing this test due to injuries. The team chose Ravinder over Ashwin, a few months back, but now the time has come where he can show his incredible bowling skills. 

Ashwin needs to perform well, as he has only 7 wickets from 3 Tests. 

2. Virat Kohli - Kohli is an evergreen personality to watch in Cricket. However, this time the eyes will be on Kohli due to the last captaincy facade. Moreover, viewers are expecting a century from him as it is long due in the international format, approximately 2 years. Till now he had played 10 Tests and scored 558 runs at a rate of 55.80, which includes 2 centuries and fifty in each match. 

3. KL Rahul - KL Rahul is undoubtedly having the best year with his bat and which made him the must-watch player in Ind vs SA test. He became India's second-highest run-scorer when he smashed 315 runs in 4 Tests against England. Moreover, he smashed 626 runs in the Indian Premier League 2021 and even finished the T20 World Cup with 194 runs. KL might be getting an opening spot with Mayank Agarwal. The pitch of the stadium will be in favor of his batting skills. 

Conclusion

India’s both batting and bowling lineup looks strong. The team is in-form and ready to fetch the victory from the mouth of South Africa. Hope everything will go well and India will become the winner. You must be willing to play after seeing such a strong team, go and Download Royal 11. The platform and rewards are waiting for you.