India must be aiming for a historic series win when they take on South Africa in the upcoming two Test matches. It is worth noting that India have played eight Test series on South African soil so far and failed to win any of them. India lost seven of those series while only one ended in a draw. Led by Rohit Sharma in the upcoming Test series, India will aim to break the jinx and batting great Sunil Gavaskar feels that this is the "best opportunity" for the touring side.
Meanwhile, Gavaskar also opined that India should have won the series back in 2018 when the side lost 1-2 to South Africa.
"Absolutely. Look at South Africa, they are without two of their best bowlers. No Nortje, no Rabada. Now this means that the Indian batting line-up can, if they play sensibly, they should be able to put up 400, 400-plus scores without too much of an issue. Yes, initially, it will be little bit tough while the ball is shinny red and with the bounce. But that's what Test cricket is all about. That's why you've got five days. They need to bat well. If they keep scoring 300 and 500, they will give their bowlers enough of an opportunity to be able to knock the South Africans in both the innings," Gavaskar said on Star Sports as quoted by Hindustan Times.
"I think this is probably the best opportunity. 2018 was where I thought they should be winning. They really should have won in 2018. They had the best lineup not so much two years ago, but 2018 was where they missed out on big time on winning the series," he added.
India's first Test against South Africa will kick off on December 28 at SuperSport Park, Centurion. The second and final match will start on January 3 at Newlands, Cape Town.
India's updated Test squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Prasidh Krishna.