IND vs RSA, 2nd Test: Team India suffered a humiliating setback to the Proteas in the first test match of the two-match series when the South Africans ended the Men in Blue’s aspirations of winning their first ever test series on South African soil by beating India by a margin of 32 runs and an innings. Things became even worse for the Indian team when 2 WTC points were deducted from their overall points tally due to having a slow overrate in the first test match. But there is some good news for the Men in Blue, as Star All-Rounder Ravindra Jadeja is likely to feature in the second test match against South Africa.
Jadeja missed the boxing day test due to back spasms, but he has started to train and is expected to be available for selection for the 2nd and final test match of the Freedom Series between India and South Africa. According to PTI’s report, the CSK All-Rounder was spotted doing some training sessions on the ground before the start of play on Day three of the first Test at Centurion. He ran multiple rounds of 30–40-meter sprints and did not look uncomfortable by any means.
Jaddu was even seen bowling without any discomfort alongside compatriot Mukesh Kumar during Day 3’s lunch break on a practice pitch, but he was mostly doing spot bowling under the supervision of Rajnikanth, the India Strength and Conditioning coach.
In the first test match, Team India clearly missed the services of Ravindra Jadeja, particularly in the batting department. Ravichandran Ashwin batted at number 7, and Shardul at number 8 couldn’t give the same batting steadiness to Team India as Jadeja does when he’s in the playing 11.
Ashwin was decent with the ball in the boxing day test match in unfavorable conditions, as he finished with figures of 1-41, and with Jadeja’s comeback in the next game, the spin duo of Ashwin and Jaddu, if they play together, might just ensure that South Africa don’t whitewash the Men in Blue in the 2-match test series.
Currently, Ravindra Jadeja is the number-one-ranked all-rounder in the ICC Test Rankings, and he has had a really good 2023 calendar year as well. He has scored 281 runs in 7 test matches, which include 2 half-centuries, and has managed to pick up 33 wickets in 7 games. He is on track to finish as India’s 2nd-highest wicket taker behind Ashwin (41 wickets) in the 2023 calendar year.
IND vs RSA, 2nd Test: Squad
South Africa: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma (c), Keegan Petersen, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Kagiso Rabada, Nandre Burger, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Wiaan Mulder, Tristan Stubbs
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ravindra Jadeja, Srikar Bharat, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Mukesh Kumar
Read: ICC PUNISH Team India after India vs South Africa Test, docked WTC points for slow-over rate
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