The tour to South Africa is done,
and as expected Team India have come out second best in the Test series.
However, they didn’t surrender meekly. The first Test in Jo’burg was
one that India will feel they should have won, and they surrendered the
advantage in Durban after having a fantastic start through Murali Vijay
and Cheteshwar Pujara on Day 1.
Although South Africa played
better than India, as a team, the Indians will feel let-down by a few of
their players through the course of the two-match series. Here are 5 of
them, whose places could be under the scanner when the selectors meet
to pick the team for the tour to New Zealand.
1. Shikhar Dhawan
Scores
of 13, 15, 29 and 19 are no good for an opener in any form of cricket,
let alone the highest level. Shikhar Dhawan, after a promising start to
his career, came unstuck in a foreign land, and couldn’t come to terms
with the conditions. It was essential that Dhawan combined with Murali
Vijay, who was solid in this series, to give India a worry-free start,
but in all 4 innings, Dhawan played a few deliveries, and then played a
poor stroke to throw it away. Dhawan needs to learn to respect the good
deliveries, for you will get a lot of them in Test cricket. As his
opening partner Vijay showed, when the good ones are respected, the bad
ones will automatically come and they can be put away. With Gautam Gambhir
being reasonably consistent in the Ranji Trophy this season, the
think-tank might well think long and hard about Dhawan’s place in the
side.
2. Zaheer Khan
Much
was expected out of Zaheer Khan in this Test series, but it is only
fair to say that he did not live up to those expectations. Although he
picked 4 wickets in the first innings at Jo’burg, he fell flat after
that. When India were pushing for wickets on the final day, he was
largely nonthreatening, and in Durban, he was poor, to say the very
least. The likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav are waiting in the
wings, and might well press for their opportunity.
3. Ishant Sharma
As
with Zaheer, Ishant was fantastic in the first innings at Jo’burg, but
faded away rapidly after that. This series followed the line of pretty
much how Ishant’s career has gone so far. Beginning with promise, but
flattering to deceive after that. In Durban, when Ravindra Jadeja
was keeping one end tight, Ishant was guilty of not applying enough
pressure at the other end, and not bowling enough wicket-taking
deliveries.
4. Rohit Sharma
Although
this was Rohit’s first Test tour abroad, he has been to South Africa
before, and his failure to adjust to conditions has been baffling. Far
too often, Rohit has pushed and prodded uncertainly, and has paid the
price for that. Rohit was guilty of making the mistakes he has made
throughout his career, not playing with any conviction, and that
reflected in the number of runs that he eventually got. With Ambati
Rayudu in the squad already, and guys like B. Aparajith, Sanju Samson,
etc. staking a claim through strong Ranji Trophy performances, Rohit
better pull his socks up.
5. Ravichandran Ashwin
Ashwin’s
poor overseas run continued with another average showing with the ball
at Jo’burg. Although he managed to keep the scoring down, he managed no
contribution to the wickets, and that was a huge hindrance for India in
pushing for a victory in the first Test match. As brilliant as he has
been on home conditions, Ashwin must fund a way to perform overseas. If
he does, then that coupled with his batting is an asset for India.
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