There is a good reason for this.
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The home side will be missing AB Deviliers for the first three ODIs owing to a finger injury he sustained recently. “I feel this is the first time we’ve really taken a small step into the “now”. India played bravely, and they deservedly won.
He will need up to two weeks to recover, which means he might return in time to play the fourth match of the series at the Wanderers on February 10.
India’s World Cup-winning skipper has been a great asset to Kohli-led Indian side not just as a wicketkeeper-batsman but also as someone to whom Kohli turns to in terms of field settings and on-field strategies.
On the other hand, South Africa will have to just draw the series to keep hold of the top rank.
Team India fought back brilliantly in the 3rd Test at Johannesburg to claim one back in the Freedom Test series.
Indeed, these gladiators faced more hostile bowlers, and reduced them to the ordinary-on worse pitches. We have huge support all around the world but this is very different. We are a little bit more focused towards the World Cup, and if you say that, you have to give yourself a little bit of an allowance because you won’t always play your best team. “That is the only spot I can see that needs to be solidified otherwise the team looks pretty balanced”, he added.
If there is one venue in this country where India might gamble fielding two spinners in the same eleven, then it is Kingsmead.
With Hardik Pandya providing the additional seaming option, it will all boil down on how the pitch behaves and who amongst the spin trio of Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel makes the playing XI. Since that Lanka tour, five players have batted at the No 4 spot. His experience will be useful, especially in the middle order which could use some stability. Kohli will be happy to be reuniting with mentor MS Dhoni, whose advice he had missed during the Tests, particularly when it came to DRS. “And if you get wickets, you put pressure on the batting side”, Du Plessis pointed out.
“I had said earlier that Ajinkya will be looked at as a third opener, but that situation can change because he has batted at No. 4 in a World Cup before”, Kohli said at the pre-match press conference.
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Wicket-keeper batsman and our new signing Quinton de Kock struggled for form in the Tests, but we know his transformation when he’s playing against the white ball in coloured clothing.
