Caped crusaders on a quest

Cape Town, January 2

Rohit Sharma will need to channelise his inner champion tactician as India look to restore parity against South Africa and remain consequential in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table when the second Test starts here tomorrow.

5 Rohit will look to correct his dismal Test record in South Africa. He has managed only 128 runs in 10 innings at an average of 12.80 with a top score of 47

India are sixth in the nine-team table with 14 points and a defeat will further damage their future prospects.

Ravindra Jadeja will come back to add the requisite middle-order batting balance and steady overs with the ball, but it will be the skipper’s choice of third and fourth speed merchants that will define the embattled team’s response.

We might have put in this performance here, but don’t forget what we did in Australia and England. We won the series in Australia on the back of our batting. We drew the series in England through our batting and bowling both. These performances can happen. It doesn’t mean we don’t know how to bat outside India. Rohit Sharma, India captain

Drawing the series is not something we are thinking about at all. It’s a big occasion for all of us. We are in a fortunate position knowing that we can’t lose the series but drawing is maybe as big as a loss for us. Dean Elgar, South Africa captain

No one knows more than Rohit that Prasidh Krishna is pretty undercooked to counter the vagaries of Test cricket and Shardul Thakur blowing hot and cold will not win him matches on most days.

Rohit’s biggest decision as skipper would be whether to rely on his specialist batters and replace Shardul and Prasidh with Mukesh Kumar and Avesh Khan.

Except KL Rahul in the first innings and Virat Kohli in the second essay, none of the Indian batters could cope with the extra bounce and lateral movement at Centurion.

With one loss and one draw in three Tests in the new WTC cycle, India would be desperate for a win, which will be easier said than done at the picturesque cricket stadium where the visitors have lost four of their previous six games.

The toss will be crucial at Newlands, which is recording temperatures of 33°C to 34°C and despite decent grass covering, the pitch will be a batting paradise with little help for spinners from either side.

Business as usual for Elgar

Stand-in captain Dean Elgar said he will not let the emotions of his final international outing impact the game when South Africa take to the field.

Elgar, 36, is retiring from international cricket after the brief series and will captain the side in the place of injured Temba Bavuma as South Africa chase a 2-0 series victory after winning the first Test by an innings and 32 runs.

“It’s business as usual for us. It’s a massive test for us, obviously our highlight Test match of the year, the New Year’s Test at Newlands and it doesn’t get much bigger and better than against really tough opposition in India,” he said today.

Elgar was named the Man of the Match after scoring 185 in the first innings of the opening Test and is key to home hopes of winning again.

“I’m not too focused on what’s going on behind the scenes around myself. It is what it is, and every player who has retired before has gone through much the same thing. For me, it’s another game and we’ll worry about the retirement afterwards.”

Elgar said South Africa seek to finish it off in style. “It being a two-match series, we knew we couldn’t afford to start slowly, unlike some of our series in the past,” he said. — Agencies

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