South Africa remains the sole regular Test-playing nation where India has yet to secure a series victory.
“There is a lot of pride to be able to keep that record intact. There will be extra drive and motivation (for India), so we will need to be at our best,” said South African captain Temba Bavuma on Sunday.
In the 2021-22 season, Virat Kohli led a formidable Indian team, riding on the momentum gained from successful tours of Australia and England.
Although India claimed victory in the first Test at Centurion, the Proteas, under the leadership of then captain Dean Elgar, displayed resilience in two hard-fought fourth-inning chases to come back and secure the series.
Kohli’s frustration reached a boiling point during a crucial television review in the decisive match, favoring Elgar. Following this, Kohli resigned as Test captain the day after the match.
Both Kohli and Elgar continue to play pivotal roles as key batsmen for their respective teams, albeit without being captains this time.
Elgar, aged 36, has announced his decision to retire from international cricket after the second Test in Cape Town. He had earlier been relieved of the captaincy as part of a Test side shake-up, which also saw Shukri Conrad appointed as the coach.
Conrad confirmed that Elgar’s decision to retire stemmed from a conversation between the two. He praised Elgar’s qualities, including resilience, a tenacious spirit, pride in performance and an unwavering determination.
These attributes will be crucial for South Africa, especially considering their lack of experience and quality in the top-order batting.
Similarly, India face uncertainties in their batting lineup, with Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane no longer part of their plans. Both had demonstrated on the previous tour the ability to withstand South Africa’s fast bowlers on the country’s traditionally lively pitches.
As the series unfolds, South Africa will once again rely on their pace bowlers to unsettle the Indian batting lineup.
“India have a quality batting line-up but we’ve got quality bowlers,” said Conrad.
Emerging talents Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee participated in four-day domestic matches last week, while the seasoned Kagiso Rabada, dealing with a sore heel, and Lungi Ngidi, recovering from an ankle sprain, unfortunately missed the chance to engage in the longer format in domestic circuit ahead of the Test series .
Nevertheless, coach Conrad expressed optimism, anticipating the swift recovery of both Rabada and Ngidi, expecting them to be fit and ready for the upcoming Test.
“They’ll be fresh, they’ll be firing,” he said.
Due to an injury sidelining fast bowler Mohammed Shami, India will miss his services, but the formidable bowling duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj will continue to lead a potent attack.
The series is the first for South Africa in the 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle.
For India, this series constitutes their second engagement in the WTC cycle, following a previous performance in July where they won one match and drew another against the West Indies.
SQUADS
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Keegan Petersen, David Bedingham, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Nandre Burger
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk), Abhimanyu Easwaran
FIXTURES
First Test: December 26-30, Centurion
Second Test: January 3-7, Cape Town