The era of Sunil Gavaskar never travelled to South Africa for a Test series. But he sure has watched Indian teamsunder various captains, and umpteen match-winners, travel to the Rainbow nation over more than three decades, only to return empty handed. In eight Test series away from home, India have never won in South Africa, and thus it remains as the nation’s “final frontier”. There was of course Australia on that list as well, but under Virat Kohli and then Ajinkya Rahane, India conquered Down Under twice in two visits between 2018 and 2021. But will Gavaskar finally see India taking down this final frontier in the impending Test series?
India are slated to play two Test matches against South Africa following the three-match ODI series, starting with the Boxing Day game on December 26 and the New Year’s Test starting January 3.
The series will see the return of captain Rohit Sharma, Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah for the first time since the ODI World Cup final loss last month in Ahmedabad. Ravichandran Ashwin will also be joining the squad, while head coach Rahul Dravid has taken an off from the ongoing ODI contest to shift his entire focus on the Test series.
On Sunday, after India’s emphatic eight-wicket win against South Africa in the opening ODI match of the contest, Gavaskar was asked if the Rohit-led side can land their maiden Test series win in South Africa and the the former India captain began his answer with a resounding yes. He explained that with the likes of Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada missing from the series, India will have the chance to amass 40-plus totals at ease.
“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,” he said in a conversation on Star Sports.
The legendary batter admitted that more than the 2021 contest, it was in 2018 when India had their best chance of conquering South Africa, but the series had ended 2-1 in favour of the hosts.
“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.