IND vs SA: "India Will Celebrate..." - Sunil Gavaskar Predicts India To Win Test Series In South Africa

The Indian team is yet to win a Test series on the South African lands, however, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar believes that the visitors can break the jinx this time.

Team India led by Rohit Sharma is playing against South Africa in a two-match Test series. The first match is being played at the SuperSport Park in Centurion wherein batting first the visitors didn’t have a pleasing day on the first day of the match. Team India finished the day’s play at 208/8 with KL Rahul and Mohammed Siraj at the crease.

Sunil Gavaskar while speaking on Star Sports stated that the South African batsmen have not been in the best of forms due to which India has the best chance to win the match.

IND vs SA: Sunil Gavaskar confident of India’s maiden Test series win in South Africa

Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports, “I think they will because I think South Africa are not quite the same. Also, the South African batters aren’t quite in form and that gives India a terrific opportunity to win this game.

“Indian batters, on the other hand, have been in prime form in all the matches. As you’ve seen, they have got experience on their side with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma playing here many times before. So, clearly, I think India will celebrate the New Year with a win.”

The Indian team had one of the best chances to record its maiden Test series wins in South Africa last time as they had won the first match in Centurion, however, with losses in Johannesburg and Cape Town, the Indian team lost yet another Test series.

IND vs SA: KL Rahul – The lone warrior

While it was KL Rahul, who played a major role by playing an unbeaten knock of 70 runs on Day 1 of the first Test match in India’s comeback, the Indian team has the best chance to reach close to 300 on Day 2 and then bowl out the South African batsmen quickly to make a solid comeback in the match.

Day 1 didn’t start well for India as they lost three wickets in the first session in the form of skipper Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Sharma and Gill walked back for 5 and 2 runs respectively, and Jaiswal departed for 17 runs.

Indian batsmen Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer showed some fight by adding up 68 runs for the 4th wicket. Virat on one end scored 38 runs, and Iyer got out after scoring 31 runs. After the departure of both the batsmen, KL Rahul and Shardul Thakur showed some courage and added the necessary 43 runs for the seventh wicket in which Thakur played a brave 24-run knock.

With KL Rahul at the crease on the second day, the Indian team will aim to reach as far as they can and then come out and bowl a handy first session to the Proteas batsmen. With the pace and bounce of the Centurion pitch and the overcast conditions, it will not be easy for South Africa to face Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.