It was considered the final frontier until Team India won their first Test series in Australia in 2019. After all, no country had visited India so many times before it smelled of victory on its soil after 11 series. Compare this to England, where India recorded their first series win in 1971, visiting the country for only the 7th time. However, if there is one Test nation that has remained unbeaten even after seven tours in the last three decades, South Africa can be safely considered the last frontier for Team India. The only time India has managed to draw a series 1-1 is in 2010 and before that, they lost a historic 1-0 lead in 2006 and eventually lost the series.
If there is one single biggest factor in India’s dominating record in the Rainbow Nation, it is arguably the Indian batsmen’s relentless struggle over the years against a hostile and accurate pace attack. In 2018, India probably had the best chance due to their versatile bowling attack, in which they took 20 wickets in every match with remarkable ease and yet India lost because, apart from Virat Kohli, no one in that three-match series The batsman did not reach 120 runs. Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane are the only Indian batsmen to have a batting average above 50 in South Africa, even though the Mumbaikar’s sample size is much smaller with just three outings in red-ball cricket.
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As a batsman, no one knows better than current Indian coach Rahul Dravid that scoring runs in South Africa is the toughest challenge for any batsman. For someone of his stature, who has an unbelievable reputation as the most reliable batsman in overseas conditions, Dravid, absurdly, struggled mostly in South Africa after his first tour in 1996–97. He scored a scintillating century in Johannesburg but after that trip, forget a ton, he could only score a half-century in his next 16 innings! His batting average of 29.71 in South Africa does not match his overall average of 52.31.
However, Dravid’s case is not an exception but a rule, as far as the performances of some of the greatest Indian batsmen in South Africa are concerned. Sourav Ganguly’s performance (average of 36.14 in South Africa) is much below his career average (of 42.17) and VVS Laxman (who averaged 40.42 in South Africa) had a similar fate. The career average was 45.97. Let us tell you that none of them could ever score a Test century in South Africa. His total of 34 innings in South Africa resulted in only eight half-centuries. If a brilliant century by Mohammad Azharuddin in Cape Town in 1996 cannot thwart South Africa’s inability to score (an average of 23.33 as opposed to his overall average of 45.03), likewise Virender Sehwag’s not-so-great century at Bloemfontein in 2001 May hide his poor record (average of 25.46) in South Africa. The great Sachin Tendulkar has also failed to claim a Test average of over 50 (his career average is 53.78) in South Africa, but that doesn’t go against him as he achieved three tons in the 2010 Test series and two of them alone. had done.
Historically, South Africa has always been the toughest place for any visiting batsman, let alone the Indians or other batsmen from the subcontinent, who find the conditions a little tough to adapt to. Even greats like Brian Lara and Australia’s Ricky Ponting have failed to average over 50 in South Africa. And, yet, it is quite disappointing to note that as far as scheduling is concerned, BCCI has refused to come up with a better plan for their team. In 2010, India had no first-class play before the Test series and the Indian batsmen were found wanted by the South African fast bowlers at Centurion in the first Test of the series. If the 2013 series was shortened to a two-Test series and just one practice game (and that too was washed away to make things worse for Team India!) Team India would have repeated the 2010 mistake in 2018 as well and a Didn’t even practice. The game before the first test!
Since South Africa’s entry into international cricket in 1992, India have won only three Test matches out of 20 played on its soil. They have lost ten and managed to draw seven; They have yet to win the Test series in South Africa. This is the third and possibly last Test tour of South Africa for the trio of Kohli, Pujara and Rahane and the first for the likes of Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari and Rishabh Pant and if it is the batting line-up that appears to be a perfect mix. Got the experience and enthusiasm, able to pass the traditional acid test for batsmen in South Africa who know whether India can register their first series win in South Africa, familiar to the Indian batsman in the rainbow There will be failure. Nation.
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