India Tour of South Africa – Harbhajan Singh’s Prediction: Ahead of India’s all-important tour of South Africa, veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has predicted that the visitors have a “golden chance” of winning their first-ever Test series in the nation. According to Harbhajan, Proteas are no more strong and India surely can win a series this time in the Rainbow Nation. Follow India tour of South Africa LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
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India Tour of South Africa: Harbhajan Singh’s big prediction, ‘India will win Test series vs South Africa, Proteas not strong anymore’
Harbhajan, who travelled with the Indian Test team to South Africa in 2001 and 2010, has reckoned that the hosts are not as strong as they used to be.
The 41-year-old did not shy away from pointing fingers at the South African batting line-up which according to him is “not great”.
“I believe this is India’s golden opportunity to win their first Test series in South Africa. If we look at their team, it is not as strong as it used to be,” Harbhajan Singh said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“Even in the last tour, players like AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis those guys never allowed India to win there, although India has played well there, they have never won a series and this is their best chance because their batting isn’t great,” Harbhajan further said.
INDIA’s Report Card: Test Series in South Africa
- Overall India has played 7 Series in South Africa & has never been succesful.
- 2010 Series was India’s beat performance – India managed drawing the 3 test series 1-1 under MS Dhoni.
- In 20 Test Matches in SA – India has only won 3 Test Matches / Lost 10 & have drawn 7
- In the last series in 2018, India lost the series 2-1
South Africa have announced a 21-man squad for the three Test series which starts from December 26. Apart from captain Dean Elgar (69 matches), wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock (53 matches), Aiden Markram (26 matches) and Temba Bavuma (44 matches) – the South Africa batting unit lacks experience and exposure in the red-ball format.
Moreover, India have announced a strong 18-man squad which have marked the return of Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, who were rested in the home Test series against New Zealand.
South Africa squad for India Tests: Dean Elgar (c), Temba Bavuma (vc), Quinton de Kock (wk), Kagiso Rabada, Sarel Erwee, Beuran Hendricks, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Anrich Nortje, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Glenton Stuurman, Prenelan Subrayen, Sisanda Magala, Ryan Rickelton, Duanne Olivier.
India Squad for South Africa Tests: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Md. Siraj.
India Tour of South Africa: Harbhajan Singh’s big prediction, ‘India will win Test series vs South Africa, Proteas not strong anymore’