INDIA are yet again chasing the Rainbow! Back in South Africa, this time for a short tour, the Indians are raring to take on the hosts and also an unwanted record of not winning a Test series in the Rainbow Nation. The Boxing Day Test opens India’s chances of changing perceptions and equip the team with a brownie point of conquering the SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) team. These countries are traditionally difficult for Asian teams to tour but India have shown a remarkable uptick in their show in these countries by winning Test series in three of these. South African remains the Final Frontier for India. And they have the best chance to pocket their first series victory in the two-Test series. The burden of history will definitely keep playing on Rohit Sharma’s mind but he will also take heart from the excellent showing of the teams travelling South Africa on the last five tours. Over last 16 years, the Indians have manage to win a Test match on four of the last five visits and came very close to winning the series. On four occasions, the visitors have forced the series to be decided in the last Test while on two occasions, they have led the series. Yet, the Indians could not cross the last hurdle and had to come back with the record of not winning a Test series on the African shores.

 

This short series now opens a door for India to enter history books and become the first Indian team to beat South Africa in a Test series at home. On the team composition front, the Indians look better equipped that the Proteans with seasoned performers in their ranks. Two stalwarts, Rohit and Virat Kohli form the fulcrum of India’s batting while with the return of Jasprit Bumrah, the pace attack adorns a special edge. Despite the unfortunate absence of Mohd Shami due to injury, India can still boast of a good pace attack with either Prasidh Krishna or rookie Mukesh Kumar taking the mantle of the third pacer. India also have spinners who can exploit good bargain on the pacer-friendly surfaces. The pitch does carry something for the spinners which quality tweakers can easily bank upon. The success spinners like Harbhajan Singh and Rangana Herath of Sri Lanka had on the South African pitches proves the usefulness of pace-spin combination against the hosts.

 

India have always found bowlers who came up with their best in South Africa. Bumrah had a wonderful series a few years ago. Mohd Shami gave a hard time to the Protean batters on the last tour. This time around, too, Indian pacers hold the quality to ace the home team. What the Indians would guard against is the propensity of sudden collapses in the top and middle orders. It had caused much damage on the previous tours where India could have easily emerged winners. The short series would not allow repeat of past mistakes. This is the best chance for India to get their act together and give their best shot. History is waiting for their first tick in South Africa Tests.