IND vs SA LIVE: 3 Big Selection decisions- With South Africa as India’s final frontier, Virat Kohli & Co will have a task cut out ahead of the Boxing Day Test. Team India will have to come up with strong selection decisions with a number of spots left open to accommodate the current squad. Follow India Tour of South Africa live updates
IND vs SA LIVE: 3 Big Selection decisions in front of Indian think-tank, who they will pick for the Indian Playing XI? Follow LIVE Updates
Team India need to come up with three big selection decision to pick the final playing XI:
- Will India go with 4 or 5 bowling options?
- Who to pick in the middle-order- Rahane, Vihari or Iyer?
- Ishant Sharma’s experience or Mohd Siraj’s heroics in Australia & England?
- KL Rahul
- Mayank Agarwal
- Cheteshwar Pujara
- Virat Kohli
- Ajinkya Rahane/ Hanuma Vihari/ Shreyas Iyer
- Rishabh Pant
- Shardul Thakur/ Vihari
- R Ashwin
- Mohd Siraj/Ishant Sharma
- Mohd Shami
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Will India go with 4 or 5 bowling options? Team India will have to finalise whether they want to go with 4 or 5 specialist bowlers option. Both all-rounder R Jadeja & Axar Patel are not available for the match which could make the five bowler combination a little tricky. India will have to decide whether they will play R Ashwin or Shardul Thakur or both as allrounder options. While Ashwin has been impressive with 337 runs in 8 Tests at an average of 28.08, Shardul Thakur has impressed with three centuries in England (2) & Australia (1).
- Who to pick in the middle-order? One of the big decisions for the Indian Team management would be to pick only one among Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari & Shreyas Iyer. While Rahane has failed to leave his mark over the last 12 months (averages 19.57 in last 12 Tests), Hanuma Vihari is in a purple patch with three back-to-back fifties in Bloemfontein for India A tour of South Africa earlier this month, making him a favourite to play the Boxing Day Test. Shreyas Iyer, meanwhile, had made the most of the opportunity with a century on Test debut which he followed up with fifty in the second innings.
- Ishant Sharma or Mohd Siraj? India will have to take a final call on 105 Test veteran Ishant Sharma or promising youngster Mohd Siraj. Mohd Siraj has proved himself in Australia & England with South Africa as his final frontier. He has returned with 33 wickets in 10 matches which features a five-wicket haul in Australia and a four-wicket haul in England. He took 13 wickets in 3 matches in Australia and 14 wickets in 4 matches in England. Meanwhile, Ishant Sharma is struggling with form, He even failed to pick wickets in the last two outings. Since the success in West Indies, Ishant’s form has taken a backseat and is unable to lead by example. His last fifer was against New Zealand in 2020. Going by his recent form, Ishant is likely to be benched by Team management.
IND vs SA LIVE: 3 Big Selection decisions in front of Indian think-tank, who they will pick for the Indian Playing XI? Follow LIVE Updates
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