Team India are full of determination as they eye a maiden Test series win on South African soil. The Test team led by Virat Kohli landed in the Rainbow Nation ahead of the series and are fully focused to give their best shot. The bowling department will be in full swing as two of India’s best guns return back to the fold- Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.
Both Bumrah and Shami were rested for the Test series against New Zealand with a close eye on the South Africa tour. 28-year-old Bumrah made his international Test debut on India’s last tour of South Africa and has since represented India on 24 occasions in Test.
In that period he has picked up 101 wickets of which 97 have come on foreign territory. Interestingly, 22 of the 24 Test matches have been played away from home. So as things stand, he needs three more wickets to reach 100 wickets away from home.
Shami, on the other hand, has 195 wickets from 54 Test matches and he will be eyeing 200 wickets. The speedster will be desperate to reach the milestone as he will join the likes of Kapil Dev, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Javagal Srinath. The Boxing Day (December 26) Test will provide the perfect platform for him to be a part of the elite list.
Ravichandran Ashwin will also be eyeing a personal milestone as he aims for another feather in his cap. Ashwin who recently went past Harbhajan Singh in Test wickets for India will now have the opportunity to go past great Kapil Dev. The Tamil Nadu-born spinner has 427 wickets and is seven shy of Kapil’s record. The 1983 World Cup-winning skipper has 434 Test wickets.
India will however miss the services of Rohit Sharma after he was ruled out of the Test series due to injury. Rohit was appointed as the vice-captain of the Test side; succeeding Ajinkya Rahane after the latter was going through a poor phase of form. KL Rahul has been appointed as the vice-captain of the Test side as Team India will be poised to make its mark against the Proteas.
