Good news is that the South African series will be underway in about a couple of weeks from now. The Indian team for South Africa was announced a few days ago and it does not really contain any surprise. However, they have managed to shock the entire nation by changing the white ball captain.
The Indian test squad
Jadeja, Gill are nursing injuries. Hence, they are left out of the squad. Unfortunately, Rahane still finds a spot and it can very well be understood that he will be part of the eleven in the first test. Whether he remains beyond that is left to how well is he able to bat. With Vihari, Mayank & Shreyas in the squad, Mayank coming off a match winning innings, Rahane must make use of this opportunity. If Rahane again fails to deliver, I could see that this series will be his last. Enough opportunities have been given to him already and he will not have any basis to complain. However, I do hope that Kohli and Dravid will take a plunge with either Iyer or Mayank in the first test and leave out Rahane and have Mayank open with Rohit Sharma.
South Africa still remains the only nation India is yet to win
South Africa remains the only nation where India have not won a series. Asian teams have always found South Africa must more difficult than England or Australia. Sri Lanka became the first Asian team to break that hoodoo and won a series in 2019. This is India’s best chance. Most of the South African players are either inexperienced or do not possess the same quality as the past South African players. Their bowling is still strong but batting is weak. India must take advantage of that. India’s recent performances in Australia and England must have cast doubts in the minds of the South African players. They must feel the pressure already and perhaps they are thinking that this Indian outfit is far too tough for them to defeat.
Tired Indian players but one huge effort is required
I know that the Indian players are all massively tired after more than 10 months of constant travel, play, hotel, play inside the bubble. Some were given a small respite recently. Now is the time the players will have to realise that they are about to make history and everyone will want to be part of that. Tired bodies, minds must be put aside for 3-4 weeks and one huge charge towards a series win is what is required from the players.
The batsmen, especially the middle order must raise upto the occasion and ensure they score enough for the bowlers to defend. With Jadeja out, Ashwin will play all the 3 tests. This is likely to be his final chance to prove that he is a force to reckon with even outside of India. Kohli must not make the mistake of going in with 4 number 11s. Shardul is essential to the lower order. The 2 tests India won in England, Shardul played a vital part.
Captaincy change
The BCCI sprang a huge surprise when they named Rohit Sharma as the white ball captain in both the formats. This is a welcome move. Rohit will now have one year before the next World T20 and 2 years before the next ODI World Cup to ensure that he has the team for those two marquee tournaments. It is good to note that Rohit Sharma himself is concentrating on winning the world tournaments.
“When you play the sport, you want to achieve the best. The best is to win the championship. You will score many hundreds but winning that championship always stays with you because that is a collective effort from the team. At the end of the day, we play a team sport. What you achieve as a team is very important to me.”
Apparently, Kohli was given the option of stepping down from ODI captaincy as well but he refused to do so. Ever since he lost the T20 world cup, the writing was on the wall. Kohli must have realised that and he must have resigned from both T20 and ODI captaincy right after India lost of New Zealand at the T20 world cup but he didn’t. Now, the BCCI have taken it upon themselves to remove Kohli and appoint Rohit. No doubt Kohli has had enormous success in both T20 and ODIs but the lack of ICC tournaments win in 4 attempts will certainly be counted against him. Ideally, Kohli must have given up the short ball captaincy right after the England series. Nonetheless, Kohli has had a successful run notwithstanding tournament wins but every captain has a shelf-life. It will always end and Kohli’s did now.
BCCI never has the mindset to change
The only thing BCCI could have done better was to have informed Kohli in advance that he is being removed from the captaincy. The BCCI always has this habit of not informing the incumbent. Many a captain have learned of their sacking from press reports or from journalists. This is absolutely wrong on the part of BCCI. Kohli had been the captain for more than 5 years. Basic courtesy is to inform him before he was sacked. No matter who is the president, the BCCI never seems to change their ways. This despite the fact that Ganguly, the current president himself wasn’t treated well during his last years as captain.
Dravid’s predicament
Rahul Dravid’s coaching stint starts now. He now has his hands full. On the onehand, he has Kohli who has been dumped unceremoniously and on the other, he has Rohit under whom Kohli will be playing in the white ball games. This is not something that is even worth to write about because this has happened across the world. South Africa once had 3 captains for the 3 formats with all of them playing under each of them in the 3 formats. However, in India these things seems to matter. Dravid will have to make Kohli feel wanted but must not go overboard in trying to appease him. Kohli the batsman has enormous contributions still. You never know. The real Kohli may arise from now on. If that happens, Rohit, Dravid and the entire nation will be pleased.