With the ODI’s now done and dusted, MS Dhoni’s men can now focus on the main part – Tests. A ‘new’ looking Indian side will take on the world number 1 Test team in their own backyard starting from December 18 at Johannesburg.
With the ODI’s now done and dusted, MS Dhoni’s men can now focus on the main part – Tests. A ‘new’ looking Indian side will take on the world number 1 Test team in their own backyard starting from December 18 at Johannesburg. For the very first time there will be no Sachin Tendulkar and the only senior members playing will be MS Dhoni, Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan. India are on a 6-match unbeaten run in Tests and are now looking forward to winning their first ever series in South Africa.
South African pitches are seamer friendly and Dhoni will have job on his hand in selecting his playing eleven in the first Test. Amongst the bowlers, there will also be the name of Ravichandran Ashwin flouting around. The spinner cum batsmen knows that he has to prepare well on how to bowl in these conditions. South African spinner Imran Tahir managed the same when South Africa played Pakistan.
Ashwin became the fastest Indian to reach 100 wickets in Tests recently and speaking to a newspaper he said, “Subtleties in the air are going to play a crucial role for a spinner. I have also been talking to people like Ravi Shastri, who have played here before, to get a fair idea on how to bowl on these tracks.” Ashwin who has bagged the tag ‘India’s numero uno Test spinner’ in all formats, has yet to fulfill the expectations of being in the category of the likes of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.
Even though he had a satisfactory performance in the ODI’s, Ashwin is targeting the Tests to make a comeback. “If you look at the third game, I was specifically bowling with the Test matches in mind. I was giving the ball a lot more air, trying to get wickets. I have learnt my lessons from the ODIs and looking to implement them in Tests.” Ashwin’s quote in the newspaper said.
Photo: BCCI
