(Cricket news) In the 1st Test against South Africa at Centurion, India once again went the combination of 7 pure batters and 5 bowling options. The decision had mixed responses from cricket experts. It is a combination that India has applied regularly over the past 3 years and it has worked in India's favour more often than not. The massive improvement of Ravindra Jadeja's batting prowess has a big role to play in that.
Jadeja isn't available for selection due to injury. Playing five bowlers gives Virat Kohli more options which works well especially if one bowler is having a bad day. The con is that the pressure of making up for that extra batter comes on the other 6 batters. India's 3 experienced middle order batters haven't been in the best of form which is another concern. India has had quite a few mini and major batting collapses.
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Having 7 batters doesn't guarantee that the team will not collapse. When India were all out for 36 in Adelaide against Australia they were playing with 7 pure batters. It is not as if India doesn't have a good player on the bench. Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari are waiting for an opportunity and have done well whenever called upon. In the 2nd innings at Centurion, Jasprit Bumrah twisted his ankle and was off the field for the majority of the innings. Despite Bumrah being injured, India still did well with 4 bowlers.
South Africa might be the place where India were most expected to go with 7 batters but they haven't done that. It will be interesting to see if they continue to play 7 batters and 5 in the next 2 games. The situation would've been completely different if India had a batting all-rounder. Ravindra Jadeja has been used as a batting all-rounder but apart from him there is no in and around the Test circuit like a Sourav Ganguly because all of India's 5 batters never bowl. Hanuma Vihari is someone who has been used with the ball and has been successful. After the series in South Africa, India will play Sri Lanka at home where there is very little chance of playing 7 batters if Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja are fit.
