SA vs IND 2018: Combinations Not a Problem for Virat Kohli - Sourav Ganguly

Former India skipper, Sourav Ganguly thinks India should not tinker too much with the combination ahead of the second Test which is slated for January 13 in Centurion while adding the changes are not possible in every game.

“Virat Kohli should not worry about such things [team combination]. India can’t just chop-and-change in every game,” Ganguly wrote in his latest column for Times of India.

With India trailing 1-0 in the three-match series, Ganguly out of his experienced suggest Kohli to bank on the strength and back the players.

Ganguly, who feels the remaining fixtures would deliver the results further and the visiting side must concentrate on their A game and has simultaneously given the team a piece of advice to instil confidence.

“They have shown faith in the current batting and that should continue to the next Test as well. They still have two more Tests to play and I feel all the matches will produce results,” Ganguly added.

The former left-handed batsman Ganguly remarked it had been an interesting pick in the first Test at Newlands – to go with the five bowlers while reiterating the combination has been a hot topic of late.

“There has been a lot of talk about the combination India did the right thing by going in with five bowlers,” Ganguly maintained.

The 45-year-old Ganguly further made it pertinent that it’s very important to pick wickets like scoring for the team and he is confident of the visitors’ bowling department delivering goods in the remainder of the Test fixtures on the South African soil.

“As much as scoring runs is important in a bid to win Test matches, getting wickets is also key. The reason why we were thinking of an Indian win at some point is because the bowlers got 20 wickets and that will continue to be an important criteria over the next two Tests,” Ganguly further wrote.

While citing self as an example about having the experience of playing in overseas conditions, Ganguly has further backed the batting line-up after the dismal show in both the innings on a surface which has been of great help for the seam bowlers and conceding the conditions were difficult.

“I have played on similar sorts of pitches in the past, at Headingley or the Wanderers, and though India finished on the winning side then, the bowlers were always in the game. To be honest, this was a tough pitch for Indian batsmen,” Ganguly added on.

Ganguly considered the players are yet to acclimatize to the conditions.

“It was the first Test of the series and the boys were still getting used to the conditions,” Ganguly stated.

Interestingly, as the debate has been far and wide over the opening batsman KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane who have termed better when it comes to the away tours, and Ganguly also agreed to it.

“Although KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane have a good history of scoring runs away from the sub-continent and have better records as batsmen,” Ganguly asserted.

In his opinion piece, he praised the resilient effort of seam-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya while suggested the team should continue with the youngster, who was the top-scorer of the Cape Town Test with 93 off 95 balls after India was reeling at 92 for seven in first innings.

“Hardik Pandya came good with the bat and India should persist with him,” Ganguly concluded.

Ganguly has played 113 Test in which he scored 7,212 runs at an average of 42.17 which further saw him collecting 16 tons and 35 fifties.

Follow India’s tour to South Africa here: South Africa Vs India, 2018