South Africa will look to seal a rare series victory in India when they take on Gautam Gambhir’s men in the second test in Guwahati on Saturday. The Proteas upset India at the Eden Gardens a few days ago, with some stunning bowling from Simon Harmer helping them defend a small target of 124 runs in the fourth innings.
The Gill question
Indian skipper Shubhman Gill hurt his neck in the first innings in Kolkata immediately after hitting a four off Harmer and was unable to take any further part in the game. His absence was pivotal in the fourth innings- not only did India lose their captain but they also lost a key RHB and it made their lefties- all six of them in the lineup, sitting ducks for the off spin of Harmer and Aiden Markram.
The natural choice to replace Gill from the existing squad would be one of Sai Sudharsan or Devdutt Paddikal. But including either of them will make it a 7-4 split in terms of LHB’s in the lineup, and that is something the management may want to avoid given Harmer’s success at the Eden Gardens.
The other option is to include Nitish Reddy, but he’s not a specialist batsman, so the way to go might to be include both Sudharsan and Reddy and drop one of the spin all rounders, most likely Axar Patel. It’s not an easy selection decision by any stretch of imagination.
The Rabada question
If Kagiso Rabada is not fit, do South Africa stick to the XI that did the business in Kolkata? Do they go and bring Lungi Ngidi in, or perhaps include all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy at the expense of one of their under-performing batsmen?
There was not much separating India and South Africa in Kolkata. Those who bet on cricket online will notice that India are still the favourites for the Guwahati test despite losing at Eden Gardens- the hosts remain a very formidable side and could’ve probably won if Gill had been able to play both innings. The Proteas batsmen also under-performed in Kolkata despite having won the toss, but individual brilliance from Bavuma & Harmer and handy contributions from Marco Jansen and Corbin Bosch saw them win by 30 runs on a difficult pitch.
The positions of Wiaan Mulder and Tristan Stubbs are probably the most vulnerable if South Africa want to change things on the batting front. Both occupied the crease for reasonable periods of time in Kolkata, but played slowly, and haven’t really been among the runs recently. Coach Conrad will be seriously thinking of bringing in one of Zubayr Hamza or Dewald Brevis, but Muthusamy, as mentioned earlier, could also be an option.
Guwahati may not be as spin friendly as Eden, but no one really knows what type of pitch the curators will serve- this is, after all, the first test to be held at this ground. At last month’s Women’s WC, South Africa were bowled out for 69 in the early stages of the tournament, but also posted 319 at the same venue in the semis.
The other interesting part will be the early kickoff and sunset in the winter, with the city being in the north eastern part of the country, and that adds another layer of intrigue to the conditions.
Ind v SA (second test in Guwahati; 22-26 November)