IND vs SA: 3 Indian Players Who Can Play Their First Test in South Africa 

The Indian Cricket Team have begun their preparations for the upcoming three-match Test Series against South Africa. They landed in South Africa on Thursday before undergoing a hard quarantine in their hotel rooms. The first of the three-match Test series will begin on Boxing Day at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

Virat Kohli will continue to lead the Indian Cricket Team in the Test series. Earlier, BCCI announced the new vice-captain of the Indian Test team. Rohit Sharma replaced Ajinkya Rahane for the aforementioned role in the side. Add to that, he has also been made the new captain of India’s ODI team.

Days after the announcement of the squad, Rohit Sharma, unfortunately, suffered a hamstring injury while training in the nets. He has been ruled out of the Test series. As a per report published in TOI, KL Rahul is set to be India’s vice-captain in the Test series.

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For those of you who don’t know, India have never won a Test series in South Africa. Virat Kohli and Boys would be keen to create history in the upcoming three-match series. In this article, let’s take a look at three Indian players who can play their first Test in South Africa.

IND vs SA: 3 Indian Players Who Can Play Their First Test in South Africa

Mayank Agarwal

Earlier, when India’s squad for the South Africa series was announced, Mayank Agarwal was picked as a backup opener to KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma. However, the injury to Rohit Sharma has made it easy for Mayank Agarwal to play his first Test in South Africa. The Karnataka batsman has been in blistering form with the bat.

He recently notched the fourth century of his Test Cricket career against New Zealand in the second Test. He amassed 150 runs off 311 deliveries to help his team notch a 325-run total. He followed it up with another vital 62-run knock in the second innings. With Rohit Sharma not in the squad, expect Mayank Agarwal to play his first Test against South Africa.

Shreyas Iyer

In the absence of Virat Kohli in the first of the two-match Test series against New Zealand, Shreyas Iyer made his Test debut in Kanpur. In his very first innings in Test Cricket, Shreyas Iyer scored a sensational century on Day 2 of the Test match.

With that, he became the 16^th Indian to score a century on Test debut. He followed it up with a half-century in the second innings and also became the first Indian batsman to score a century and a half-century on Test debut.

A left hamstring strain to Ajinkya Rahane allowed Shreyas Iyer to play the second Test as well. Rahane has been relieved of the vice-captaincy duties because of his poor form with the bat. It shouldn’t come as a surprise if Shreyas Iyer gets the nod ahead of Ajinkya Rahane in the Test series in South Africa.

Mohammed Siraj

India’s new bowling sensation in Test Cricket, Mohammed Siraj has been making headlines with his fast bowling exploits for quite some time now. He made his international Test debut in the second Test against Australia in Melbourne on the 26^th December 2020. Siraj impressed one and all with his pace, bounce, and consistent lengths. Siraj returned with five wickets in the match.

The Indian fast bowler has been performing consistently with the ball since. He bowled a dream spell of 4 overs in the second Test against New Zealand at Wankhede Stadium. Siraj picked the first three out of the four wickets inside the first 9 overs of the innings to leave New Zealand tottering at 27 for 4.

Siraj took 3 wickets for 19 wickets in 4 overs. His sensational spell might help him in getting picked in the playing XI ahead of Ishant Sharma in the first Test against South Africa.