India seeks to clinch series

Steyn’s absence might just work in favour of the hosts

November 25, 2015 03:51 am | Updated November 28, 2021 07:40 am IST - Nagpur

Raring to go:With the VCA pitch expected to be a slow turner, Hashim Amla could consider another role for himself in the third Test.

Raring to go:With the VCA pitch expected to be a slow turner, Hashim Amla could consider another role for himself in the third Test.

Indian captain Virat Kohli faces a sort of litmus Test as the two teams in the Paytm Freedom Series have prepared to resume hostilities in the third Test on a probably slow turner at the VCA stadium here from Wednesday.

The absence of a true duel between the bat and ball after a long period of lull because of incessant rain during the second Test at Bengaluru had virtually brought a screeching halt to the four-Test rubber that had unambiguously given the impression of a nerve-tingling contest on designer pitches created for the Indian spinners against the South African batsmen.

The virtual washout at Bengaluru may have prevented Kohli to marshal his resources from a distinctly advantageous position at stumps on the first day and take a 2-0 lead.

Kohli, who has always vowed never to take a backward step, will hope that events quickly unfold in his team’s favour at a venue in which South Africa’s reputed fast bowler of the last decade Dale Steyn in a match-winning spell took 10 wickets five years ago.

The suspense though of the speedster appearing in the South African team for the third Test was emphatically ruled out by skipper Hashim Amla at the press conference. Amla said that Steyn had not recovered from his groin injury and would not play.

For obvious reasons the attention would be on the young Indian captain. Though he began in spectacular fashion as captain in Australia with scores of 115 and 141 at Adelaide and 147 at Sydney and notched up a 103 against Sri Lanka at Galle, Kohli would have liked to see better scores than in the series in Sri Lanka and also in the Mohali Test. He did not get to bat at Bengaluru, but more than the objective of carrying out consistent undertakings with the bat he would have been anxious to start with a clear-cut series win, leading the national team for the first time in a home series.

India was such a dominating force to reckon with at home, before Alastair Cook’s England startled the Dhoni-led Indian team with a 2-1 win in the 2012 series with Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar able to obtain more turn of the wicket than the Indian spinners. But the 4-0 thrashing of Australia and 2-0 victory over the West Indies put India back in the winning mode and that’s precisely what Kohli will look forward to in the third Test.

Horses for courses He has hinted at following the horses for courses policy and the likelihood of playing the wrist spinner Amit Mishra to add variety to the spin attack that already has Ashwin and Jadeja.

Responding to a question on team composition Kohli said: “For sub-continental conditions you will have that sort of spinning all-rounder more often than not fitting in. That will always be an area that we will experiment with.”

“Other than that, we haven’t really chopped and changed too much. It is just the one slot which brings balance to the team must be decided according to the conditions we are playing in. Other than that, anything could be a possibility. We possibly might make a few changes according to the conditions.”

In the four days of skirmish seen in the series, the home team has come up trumps and with the notable exception of A.B. de Villiers, none of the visiting batsmen, including Amla, has been able to find answers to the probing of the Indian spinners.

“We have been preparing (simulating situations and finding ways to tackle the spinners) like this for ten years. We were very much in the first Test till the third day,” said Amla, who has an uphill task to find the right team without Steyn and Philander.

Probably he is looking to bring in Temba Bavuma.

Responding to a question on the Test series which has been bizarre so far with only four days of Test cricket possible, Kohli said: “Mohali was a positive result for us, but that was a long time back. What happened in Bengaluru is something that was not in our control. I remember one fine tour that India had against Sri Lanka, it was a 20 or 22-day tour and only one day of cricket was possible. So it’s not the first time that it’s happening, and certainly not the last time that it has happened because weather is something that we can’t control.”

The teams (from) :

India : Virat Kohli (capt.), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav, Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, K.L. Rahul and Gurkeerat Singh.

South Africa : Hashim Amla (capt.), Temba Bavuma, A.B. de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Faf de Plessis, J-P. Duminy, Dane Vilas, Morne Morkel, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir, Stiaan van Zyl,  Kyle Abbott,  Simon Harmer, Dane Piedt, Dale Steyn and Marchant de Lange.

Umpires : Ian Gould and Bruce Oxenford.

Third Umpire : Anil Chaudhary.

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