All cricket fans are eagerly waiting for the battle of the beasts to begin. India has practiced hard in the nets to prepare for the South African challenge that begins tomorrow as the first Tests gets underway.
The clash has great excitement and entertainment to offer as its the clash between two greatest cricket teams of modern day cricket. South Africa and India’s battle is the battle of prejudice and pride and its going to be one clinical encounter of cricket between the Proteas and Kohli’s men.
Here are the most interesting player battles between the two teams.
1. Morne Morkel versus Kohli
India’s hopes would test heavily on Virat Kohli as its a lethal pace attack up against them. Virat Kohli has been the greatest endorsement of India’s batting in the past years and he scored 600 plus runs in his last test series against Sri Lanka. On the other hand, Morne Morkel is a beast with the bowl.
He’s been amazing with the bowl since his comeback in 2017 and he likes to be in the face of the batsman and Kohli wouldn’t go down without fighting. Throughout this tour of South Africa this would be the most interesting battle to look out for as its the battle of two highly aggressive cricketers.
2. Hashim Amla versus Shami
Hashim Amla has been a pillar of South Africa’s batting over the years. He’s been a metaphor for consistency as far as the South African team is considered. Hashim Amla has quietly scored 942 runs in 11 matches.
Mohammad Shami will be leading the pace attack of the Indian side and this would be another interesting battle to look out for.
Shami has picked up Amla quite a few times in both ODI and test cricket. Shami likes to move the new ball and he will put in his everything to get the better of this South African run machine.
3. Cheteshwar Pujara versus Rabada
Cheteshwar Pujara has been sensational in 2017 getting over 1000 runs. His patience and concentration is just next to impossible to breach and that has made him really consistent in the longest format of the game. Pujara has filled in Rahul Dravid’s place well to be ‘The Wall’ of the present day Indian team.
Kagiso Rabada on the other hand is a lethal customer with the bowl who likes to leave the batsmen without answers. Rabada is at the second spot in the ICC test rankings for bowlers while Cheteshwar Pujara is third on the list of ICC rankings for batsmen.
4. Rohit Sharma versus Imran Tahir
Rohit Sharma likes to take on the spinners and use his feet against them. Imran Tahir likes to surprise the batsman and produce a wicket out of nowhere. This little cat and mouse game between Rohit and Imran Tahir would be really interesting.
