INDIAN TOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA: Opener Mayank Agarwal is looking forward to South Africa series to continue his fine form on foreign soil too
Our Bureau
Mumbai/Pretoria
Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Tuesday announced a 21-strong, Proteas Test squad that will take on India in three Tests from December 26 to January 15.
The series will form part of the new cycle of the ICC World Test Championship and will be hosted in three venues namely; SuperSport Park, Imperial Wanderers and Six Gun Grill Newlands respectively. The National Selection Panel has gone with the same core group that successfully toured the West Indies in June of this year and has included three others.
Proteas fans will be pleased to see the return to action of household names such as Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock and Anrich Nortje as well as the reintroduction of seamer, Duanne Olivier, who has returned to the South African domestic set-up following a prolonged stint in the United Kingdom.
Olivier’s last Test appearance for South Africa was in Gqeberha against Sri Lanka in February of 2019. The 29-year-old has made a loud return to the CSA Four-Day Series, ending this year as the leading wicket-taker, eight scalps clear of number two, Simon Harmer. Olivier has a claim to 28 wickets in eight innings at an average of 11.14 and best innings bowling figures of 5/53.
Glenton Stuurman and Prenelan Subrayen have also received nods back into the team and Sisanda Magala and Ryan Rickelton will be pleased to receive their maiden Test team call-ups.
CSA Convenor of Selectors, Victor Mpitsang said: “We as the Selectors are excited for the return of Test cricket. This format is very important to CSA and keeping it relevant and alive is one of the organisation’s priorities.
“We are really looking forward to the return of Dean Elgar and his men, it’s been a long few months since the last time we saw them dominate in the West Indies. We are confident in the team that we have selected and believe fully in backing the talent that we have unearthed and cultivated over the last couple of seasons and giving players the backing that they deserve when they have continuously done well over a significant period of time,” he added.
Meanwhile, the All-India Senior Selection Committee on Wednesday picked an 18-member squad for the upcoming 3-match Test series against South Africa starting from December 26.
The following players were not available for selection due to injuries and are currently undergoing rehabilitation: Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, Axar Patel, Rahul Chahar. The All-India Senior Selection Committee also decided to name Rohit Sharma as the captain of the ODI & T20I teams going forward.
Indian opener Mayank Agarwal might have performed brilliantly in the second Test against New Zealand but the batter is looking forward to South Africa series to continue his fine form on foreign soil too.
Mayank scored 150 and 62 in the first and second innings respectively of the second Test against New Zealand before India defeated the Kiwis on Monday. With this win, India sealed the two-match series 1-0, and now Kohli’s side will head to South Africa for three Tests and three ODIs, beginning December 26.
“I didn’t really think about the second hundred in the match, but should have converted the sixty. We will relish the abroad challenge in South Africa, so we’re looking forward to that too,” Mayank told host broadcaster Star Sports at the post-match presentation.
Mayank also explained how he adjusted his stance ahead of the second Test which eventually yielded results for the batter last week.
“It feels good to be back among the runs and this knock is special for me. I didn’t change anything from Kanpur, I just had the mental discipline and determination. The technique isn’t going to be the best all the time, it won’t guarantee runs, but the will to fight is key,” said Mayank.
“Rahul (Dravid) bhai told me about not thinking of technique mid-series, and told me this is the technique that’s got me runs. Sunny sir said I should keep my bat low early on in the innings and opening up my left shoulder,” he signed off.
India’s Test squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Md. Siraj.
Standby Players: Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Arzan Nagwaswalla.
