These are the much debated questions after India’s heartbreaking 72-run loss to South Africa at the New Lands in Cape Town. It was definitely India’s game with just 208 runs to victory in the 4th innings and yet India fell short by a long, long way!
Ajinkya Rahane is India’s best averaged batsman in overseas conditions in the current Indian squad was left out to make way for Rohit Sharma who has been brilliant at home off late against Sri Lanka. But can the current form at home alone be a criteria in getting selected in the overseas games?
Shikhar Dhawan was brilliant with the bat in 2017 but all his aggressiveness was against a single team – the out of form Sri Lanka. Did Dhawan really deserve his place in the side based on his performances solely against Sri Lanka?
The catching in the slip cordon is not good either with Shikhar Dhawan dropping Keshav Maharaj on naught (zero) in the 1st innings standing at third slip. Maharaj went on to make 35 runs in that innings but Dhawan accounted for just 34 runs in both the innings of the Test match!
“We decided to go in with one combination. Current form was definitely the criteria,” added the Indian skipper.
Proteas were a bowler-short in the 2nd innings (Dale Steyn was injured) and yet the Indian batsmen weren’t able to chase down the below-par target which even South African skipper Faf du Plessis admitted that he was a bit nervous to defend!
Questions to answer before 2nd Test:
Should a player be selected for overseas tours like South Africa based on the performances against the out-of-form Sri Lanka? And that too based on performances in home conditions? Does India really need a right-left partnership to open the innings?
