(Cricket news) India take on South Africa in a 3 match Test series starting on boxing day in Centurion. The big concern going into the series is the lack of a proper all-rounder. Ravindra Jadeja was ruled out of the series with any injury along with his back-up Axar Patel. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are also out with injuries. India's chances of winning have clearly taken a massive hit but they can still do it. 

The big question will be what combination Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid go for. The Indian skipper has always been in favor of 5 bowlers which is difficult without a proper all-rounder. The 3 all-rounders in the squad are Ravichandran Ashwin, Jayant Yadav and Shardul Thakur who are clearly bowling all-rounders. Ravichandran Ashwin will almost definitely play and if India go with 5 bowlers one of them is got to be Shardul Thakur as the 4th seamer who can bat. If India do go with just 3 seamers and Ashwin then who will be the 7 batter? Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari are up against each other. Ajinkya Rahane has been stripped of vice captaincy which is a clear indication that he is walking a tightrope and could be dropped. If he is dropped at anytime during the tour it again brings up the question of Iyer or Vihari or both or neither

Also read: South Africa handed a big blow with Anrich Nortje injury ahead of India series

Hanuma Vihari has been in the Test set-up for a while now. He has played in tough conditions in England, West Indies, Australia and New Zealand. In his last match he dramatically rescued the Test in Sydney with a torn hamstring. Since then he didn't get a chance in England and was surprisingly dropped for the New Zealand series. He did go on to play in South Africa with the India A side presumably to get used to the conditions. In terms of technique Vihari is better than Iyer in coping with South African conditions.

Shreyas Iyer had a very successful debut against New Zealand where he scored a century in the first innings and a fifty in the second. He is the man in form at the moment but not many would say that he deserves to be in the side ahead of Vihari. Iyer has faced problems with short deliveries which he will have to face on the bouncy South African pitches. He is naturally the kind of batter to take on the bowling whereas Vihari is someone who would be on the defensive side and will look to bat long hours. The two are very different to each which means that it all comes down to what the captain and coach wants.