IND vs SA: Sunil Gavaskar Predicts How Many Runs Virat Kohli And Rohit Sharma Will Score In The Test Series

Former Indian Batter and Legendary personality Sunil Gavaskar has affirmed that returning batters, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should be able to score a lot of runs during the upcoming 2-match Test series at South Africa, starting from tomorrow.

Gavaskar has claimed that India should be taking advantage of South Africa’s “weakened” bowling department and he is expecting both Kohli and Rohit Sharma to go big in both of the tests. The Freedom trophy series is all set to start tomorrow at Centurion with the visitors aiming to clinch a first-ever test series win in South African soil.

“They are experienced batters, who are coming after playing everywhere, so I expect them to score lots of runs in these two Test matches. Not only because they have got so much talent, but this time around, I think the South African attack does not have that edge.” – Gavaskar told Star Sports.

It goes without saying that if India is to win the series this time around, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will have to be at their very best as they are the only 2 batters with a lot of experience in foreign conditions at the top of the order. With a few new faces in the team as well, it will be nothing less than an exam for Rahul Dravid’s men.

But the little master, Sunil Gavaskar has gone on to claim that South Africa’s bowling department is not as lethal as one would expect. Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi are likely to return for the home team after a very long break and Anrich Nortje remains unavailable for them.

“With the absence of Nortje, with the likely absence of Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, the South African attack looks a little bit short on experience, I am not saying short of class. So I feel these two batters will score lots of runs and help the Indian team post a big score.” – Gavaskar added.

So, with a very minimal amount of experience, Gavaskar has claimed that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma should be stepping up to play the anchor’s role while other batters like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, and Shreyas Iyer should also be able to get good runs under their belt.

Among Virat and Rohit, it is the Mumbai man whose Test record in South Africa is a little alarming. Although having played just 4 Test (8 Innings), the 36-year-old has an average of just below 16 and has scored just 123 runs during his time at South Africa from 2013-2018.

Whereas Virat Kohli has a very good record against South Africa on their soil, scoring 719 runs with an average of over 50 in 14 innings which also includes 3 Half-centuries and 2 Hundreds.

Sunil Gavaskar Asks Rohit Sharma To Change His Approach For Tests Against South Africa

All eyes will not just be on Kohli but on Rohit Sharma as well. Both of them will be taking part in their first competitive cricket match since the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Final loss against Australia on November 19.

It will specifically be a very tough challenge for Rohit Sharma, the captain as well as the batter. He will look to improve his numbers at South Africa and he has that added pressure of helping India to win a first-ever Test series over there. On how he can thrive under pressure, Sunil Gavaskar said that firstly Rohit has to get his mental state right and also change his approach in a Test match situation.

“He has been batting in the ODI format where he had decided that he was going to be playing the attacking role and try and score as many runs as possible in the first 10 overs of field restrictions. He will have to change the approach completely for Test cricket because he will have to think in terms of batting the whole day.”

If he bats the whole day, then, clearly with the range of shots that he has got, he will be able to end up with 180 or 190 not out at the end of the day and India will be 300-plus.” – Gavaskar concluded.