Vaibhav Garg’s Column: Challenging tour of South Africa

Wasim Jaffer is one among the nine Indian batters who have made an impression on tours to South Africa with a three-figure knock. Sachin Tendulkar leads the numbers with five centuries from 15 matches played in the rainbow nation from 1992 to 2011; he is followed by Virat Kohli who has scored two. Those who have scored one century in South Africa are Pravin Amre, Kapil Dev, Mohammad Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Jaffer and Cheteshwar Pujara.

Jaffer went to South Africa on the 2006-07 tour, played in three Tests and scored 185 runs at 30.83, the average boosted by his 116 in his penultimate innings at Newlands, Cape Town. After scores of 9 and 4 at The Wanderers, Johannesburg, 26 and 28 at Kingsmead, Durban, Jaffer compiled a 244-ball 116 with fifteen hits to the hence. On a tour he virtually became fast bowler Makhaya Ntini’s bunny (he fell to the South African four out of six times), Jaffer faced the likes of Dale Styen, Ntini, Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis and left-arm seamer Paul Harris to score a century, the lone bright spot in a Test match India lost by five wickets.

“When you are a visiting team, you know that there is pace and bounce and there is lateral movement and to face the fast bowlers is always a big challenge when you go out of India,” Pujara said in a video posted by BCCI on its twitter handle. South African team is a dangerous team when playing at home, but it is a fact that any team playing its home conditions would be a great team.

Bharat Arun reckons being accurate will do India bowlers a world of good during the South Africa tour which gets underway from December 26 with the first Test of a three-match series. India have never won a Test series on South African soil but based on their recent form, the world’s top-ranked team is being backed to end their wait this time around.

In my opinion this Indian team would be able to win this time because the players are good and Earlier also India have won a test in South Africa. Only they have not won a Series in 29 years. The way this team have played in Australia and England was very inspirational. The boys showed the will to perform in SENA Countries. They are one of the Asian team to won the matches in these countries. We would be able to witness such a historic Test on 26th December 2021.

Usually, the Indian team never enjoys South Africa tours. The pitches in the Rainbow Nation are bouncy, full of pace, seam and swing. It’s a complete mismatch for someone growing up in the maidens of Mumbai. Time and again, South Africa has brought up nightmares for star Indian batters who are pampered and loved by their fans. The tour over the years has bruised the egos of many and left the reputation of the Indian team in tatters.

Unlike Australia, England, where the Indian team has shown a resurgence in recent years, South Africa remains a ‘tough assignment’ although it is not as horrible as New Zealand, where India last won a Test match in 2009. Under Kohli when India toured in 2018, they managed to beat the hosts in the Jo’burg Test, but only after they had lost the series. We take a look at India’s past five South African tours devoid of inspiration; nonetheless, not short on individual brilliance.

India head coach Rahul Dravid said that playing cricket in South Africa is very challenging but exciting at the same time. He added that there is now an expectation from the Indian team to do well irrespective of the format in overseas tours. It’s been a great country to tour. A very challenging place but also really exciting to play cricket. I have some fond memories associated with South Africa, having scored my first Test hundred here and having won a Test match here for the first time as a captain. Also, had some tough moments and tough series.

We have had lost games and reached the final of 2003 World Cup here as well. So, that was again a really good memory,” said Dravid in a video uploaded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on their website. It’s a place which is very passionate about their cricket, they love the cricket and games here are generally very well-attended and well-supported. Over the years, I have made a lot of friends here but haven’t got a chance to meet people due to living in the bio-bubble. But really looking forward to the series.