Acknowledging the indispensability of a world-class seam bowler like Mohammed Shami in a Test series on South African soil, India captain Rohit Sharma has said that the absence of Shami will be a "big miss" in the two-match series, starting on Boxing Day, i.e. December 26, 2023 in Centurion. (Cricket News | Full Coverage)
"It is a very important Test series. We have never won a series here. It's a big opportunity for us. We came close the last two times. That gives us a lot of excitement and encouragement to do our best. Our seamers have done well in Australia, England and South Africa. The seamers have to pull their weight in. (Mohammed) Shami will be a big miss," Rohit said at the pre-match press conference on the eve of the first Test.
Shami, India’s most successful pacer in recent times, has sustained a heel injury and has been ruled out of the Test series. One among rookie Prasidh Krishna or one-Test old Mukesh Kumar is expected to replace Shami in the playing eleven.
As for the spinners, chiefly the experienced Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit said they know their role well, even in pace-friendly conditions in the Highveld. "Every bowler will have a huge role to play. Sometimes for the spinners, the role could be to contain. The conditions help the seamers here. We have got two experienced spinners and they know what we require of them."
India are all set to embark on the Test challenge, starting with the 1st Boxing Day Test starting from December 26, Tuesday at Centurion's SuperSport Park. The Men In Blue began their Proteas tour with a drawn series in the T20Is and concluded the white-ball tour with a 2-1 series win in the 50-over format.
However, India are yet to win a Test series in the Rainbow Nation after seven tours. Their biggest feat remains a drawn series during the 2010/11 tour to South Africa. In the 2021/22 tour, India led the series 1-0 but ended up losing it 1-2.
Post the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, Rohit had missed India's cricketing assignments against Australia and the limited-overs series against South Africa, but is back in whites to lead the team for the Test challenge in the Rainbow Nation.
This was the first time that Rohit spoke in public post the the World Cup final loss to Australia, though he had posted a video on social media.
Teams:
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk), Abhimanyu Easwaran (2nd Test).
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (captain), Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Dean Elgar, Keegan Petersen, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Tristan Stubbs (wk), Nandre Burger, Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, David Bedingham.
