(Cricket news) After winning the 1st Test in Centurion, India lost the next two Tests against South Africa. The series concluded 2-1 with South Africa playing some really good and resilient cricket. Keegan Peterson was named player of the series for scoring 276 runs in 3 matches. India were 2nd best in important moments where the matches got away from them.
Here are the 3 takeaways from the series:
- Middle order desperately needs changes:
It may be time to finally move on from Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara. Drastically dropping them from the squad wouldn't make sense but dropping them to the bench certainly would. India has way too much talent on the bench to keep giving the veterans so many opportunities. Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer are eagerly waiting on the bench. Virat Kohli clearly said that the batting needs to be looked at and the with a big home season coming up it might be time for Pujara and especially Rahane to be dropped
- 5 bowlers formula needs to be looked at:
It is pretty clear that Virat Kohli likes to play 5 bowlers. After Ravindra Jadeja was ruled out of the series it looked like India may revert back to just 4 bowlers but didn't. Neither of Ravichandran Ashwin and Shardul Thakur are good enough to bat at number 7 and India clearly lack a batting all-rounder in the Test set-up. The fact that Ravichandran Ashwin didn't bowl too many overs and picked up only 3 wickets proves the point. In the absence of Ravindra Jadeja no other all-rounder can play at number 7, he has to be a batter who can bowl a few overs like Hanuma Vihari.
- Injuries lead to India's downfall:
There has been a lot of hype about India's depth over the past year and rightly so. This series is a proof that the absence of a few key players can take a toll on any given team. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja missing the entire series was a very big blow for the Indians. Virat Kohli missing the 2nd Test; Mohammed Siraj missing the 3rd and not being fully fit in the 2nd also played its part in India's downfall. India may have incredible bench strength but too much disturbance and changes in the side does come with a price.
Tags
India, South Africa, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Arzan Nagwaswalla, Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill and Axar Patel
(Cricket news) After winning the 1st Test in Centurion, India lost the next two Tests against South Africa. The series concluded 2-1 with South Africa playing some really good and resilient cricket. Keegan Peterson was named player of the series for scoring 276 runs in 3 matches. India were 2nd best in important moments where the matches got away from them.
Here are the 3 takeaways from the series:
- Middle order desperately needs changes:
It may be time to finally move on from Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara. Drastically dropping them from the squad wouldn't make sense but dropping them to the bench certainly would. India has way too much talent on the bench to keep giving the veterans so many opportunities. Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer are eagerly waiting on the bench. Virat Kohli clearly said that the batting needs to be looked at and the with a big home season coming up it might be time for Pujara and especially Rahane to be dropped
- 5 bowlers formula needs to be looked at:
It is pretty clear that Virat Kohli likes to play 5 bowlers. After Ravindra Jadeja was ruled out of the series it looked like India may revert back to just 4 bowlers but didn't. Neither of Ravichandran Ashwin and Shardul Thakur are good enough to bat at number 7 and India clearly lack a batting all-rounder in the Test set-up. The fact that Ravichandran Ashwin didn't bowl too many overs and picked up only 3 wickets proves the point. In the absence of Ravindra Jadeja no other all-rounder can play at number 7, he has to be a batter who can bowl a few overs like Hanuma Vihari.
- Injuries lead to India's downfall:
There has been a lot of hype about India's depth over the past year and rightly so. This series is a proof that the absence of a few key players can take a toll on any given team. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja missing the entire series was a very big blow for the Indians. Virat Kohli missing the 2nd Test; Mohammed Siraj missing the 3rd and not being fully fit in the 2nd also played its part in India's downfall. India may have incredible bench strength but too much disturbance and changes in the side does come with a price.
Also read: DRS controversy gave us a window to chip away at target: Elgar
