Sunil Gavaskar Predicts Series Win For India In South Africa And Australia
Photo credits: PMG

Ahead of much-awaited India tour of South Africa, Sunil Gavaskar – the former India captain – has predicted a series win for India in both South Africa and Australia,

“2018 could well be the year when the Indian team does what it has never done before — win a series in South Africa, and later in Australia. Hopefully, the scheduling by then will be such that India will be in Australia well in advance and play proper first-class matches. They will then not have to ask for pitches like the one they had at the Eden Gardens,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstarlive.com.

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India's squad for SA tour 2018

Amidst cramped schedule, the Indian team is flying to South Africa for three Tests, six ODIs and three T20Is. However, it will be the Test series which will gain much attention as it will be the first time under the captaincy of Virat Kohli when India will go to South Africa.

He has had tasted much success in Asia and West Indies, but it will be the first time when Kohli led Test side will be against a strong opponent away from home.

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The conditions in South Africa will be the biggest challenge for the Indian batsmen, who do not face many issues in India. They were on the asked to bat on a difficult batting track in the Kolkata Test recently and were bowled out for just 172 in the first innings.

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Virat Kohli, Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi, ICC Test Batting Rankings, No.2
Photo Credit: BCCI.

Before the start of the tour, BCCI has already cancelled the tour game, and Sunil Gavaskar is not happy about that decision, as he believes get used to conditions thereby taking part in intense practice sessions before the start of the international fixtures.

One of the worries for Indian team would be Virat Kohli, who is on rest. The first Test will be the first competitive game which he will play after one month. He is not a part of the India squad for the limited overs series against Sri Lanka.

Sunil Gavaskar also raised concerns over it and wrote,

The other worry will be the fact that Virat Kohli will be away from top class cricket until January 5. Luckily, he has age on his side and so getting back the physical contours for international cricket won’t be too tough.

The India tour of South Africa starts on January 5. The first Test of the series will tell whether the Indian team is prepared for the series or not as coming back in the series after going one down in South Africa will be one of the most difficult tasks for any team.

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