India vs South Africa 2021-22: Can Virat Kohli and band defy historical, external, internal worry points?

Expectedly, India razed all comers at home but rather a bit unexpectedly they fought hard and at times even dominated opponents away from home.

With the Test series against South Africa starting on December 26 at the SuperSport Park, India’s effort will be measured against that aforementioned period.

One part of the success during that phase was a result of the meticulous planning, building of an all-weather pace unit and at times opting for the rather unpopular horses for courses strategy like dropping R Ashwin for the series in England earlier this year.

Another not-so-negligble part of the success was their willingness to play in any conditions that were on in offer. They hardly hide behind any excuses like weather, pitch etc.

How India undermined the ‘Come to Gabba’ taunt of Tim Paine was a classic example. They were also never in unnecessary awe of history and hardly carried baggage from the previous tour.

In 2018, India were beaten soundly by England but three years down the road, Kohli’s men found a way to take a 2-1 lead when the fifth Test at Manchester was cancelled due to Covid-19 cases in the Indian camp.

India face a similar situation in South Africa. The difference this time is that they have a new head coach in Rahul Dravid and an entirely new support staff barring Vikram Rathour.

They had taken over during the home series against New Zealand and it may be early days for them to establish a personal connect with the players like Shastri and Bharat Arun did during their stint.

Also unlike in 2018, Kohli is no longer the supreme leader as he holds captaincy only in Test cricket and his relation with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is at its lowest ebb.

These little things matters a lot during a tip away from home and then there are bigger concerns within the team itself to address.

Kohli, though he made fifties, hardly resembled that assertive batsman of the past and his last hundred came back in 2019. However, even bigger concern is the form of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane.

They still offers a doughty spectacle at the crease but the time they spend in the middle often does not translate into runs. It happened in the recent home series against New Zealand too.

The team management had stressed that there is no talk about the form of Pujara and Rahane in the dressing room but if they don’t find a way to get the runs it is bound to happen. After all, no team can afford to have their batsmen at No 3 and No 5 contributing low percentage of runs to the total consistently.

Runs from them is all the more important because India will not have Rohit Sharma, who was ruled out of the series with a hamstring injury, and will rely on KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal at the top.

Rahul’s last tour of South Africa produced innings of 10, 4, 0, 16 and Mayank has not played Tests in SA before.

India will also miss Ravindra Jadeja and the balance that he brings to the team and the think tank will hope that R Ashwin and Shardul Thakur will chip in at the lower order like they did against England and Australia respectively.

But as always, there is a glimmer of hope and not for the first time it is offered by the bowlers. Jasprit Bumrah will return to the land where he made his Test debut and he is a more wholesome package now than he was in 2018. Currently, he is the undisputed leader of India pace unit across the formats, in any corner of the world.

Mohammed Shami is a more developed bowler. He has gained in fitness too in the last couple of years helping him to sustain through longer spells with better accuracy. There will be discussion on whether to pick Ishant Sharma or Mohammad Siraj.

Ishant looked jaded, hardly threatening in the Kanpur Test against New Zealand and was replaced by Siraj. Ishant failed to take a wicket in the 22 overs he bowled in that match.

On the contrary, the Hyderabad pacer looked zippy and was in the game irrespective of match stage in Mumbai and that effort should make him the front-runner when the 11 is picked for the Centurion Test.

South Africa are without the super pacy Anrich Nortje and might appear a tad underpowered. Additionally, the CSA has initiated a probe against Graeme Smith, its director, and coach Mark Boucher in connection with a racism charge.

So, It can be easily assumed that this could be India’s finest chance to script that elusive Test series victory in South Africa and complete the SENA conquering list.

The Proteas might not be the storm force that they were a few years back but India need to mind their own frailties — external and internal — to emerge the winner.