SA vs IND 2018: India's Chance Of Comeback 30 Percent, Says Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag was one of the many who tipped Virat Kohli & Co. to do well in the ongoing series against South Africa before the series started.

India first toured the country in 1992 but are yet to end up on the winning side after a series in six attempts. But with the current team looking in form, having won nine consecutive Test series and sitting atop the Test rankings for over a year now, expectations were sky-high from the Virat Kohli-led team.  However, the former India opener seems to have changed his mind following India’s loss in the first Test as he reckoned the side now only has around “30 percent chance” of making a comeback in the three-Test series.

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India were completely dismantled by the hosts in Cape Town losing the game by 72 runs while chasing 208. While the bowlers did well in both the innings, the batsmen failed to join the party in both the innings.

“As of now, it looks like only 30 percent chance is there of making a comeback. It is going to be very tough from now on. Also the Indian team management should look whether conditions at the Centurion warrant a place for Ravichandran Ashwin,” Sehwag told ‘India TV’ on Wednesday (January 10).

Sehwag further advised the team management to go in with six specialist batsmen and four bowlers, thus bringing in Ajinkya Rahane who was a surprising omission for the first game.

“India can go in with an extra batsman in Ajinkya Rahane. They should also try to go in with four specialist bowlers. If India want to win, Virat and Rohit will need to play a big role,” Sehwag said.

Sehwag, who was a part of the team that drew the Test series 1-1 in 2010-11, also advised the players to leave as many deliveries outside the off-stump as possible.

“Don’t fiddle with deliveries outside the off-stump will be my advice to the batsmen. Play as straight as possible. Your ‘go to’ shots should be straight drive and flick. Get prepared to be hurt by some short stuff. Rather than trying to fend off short balls, get prepared to take blows on your body,” said Sehwag.

“The tennis ball bounce in South Africa means that it will be very difficult for any batsman to get bowled. So one needs to stay positive and try to score runs at the rate of at least three runs per over,” added Sehwag who had scored a century on his Test debut in South Africa.

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