After some uncertainty over the status of the tour due to the discovery of the ‘Omicron’ variant of COVID-19, Indian are set to travel to South Africa for a three-match Test and ODI series later this month.
After winning a Test series in Australia and leading in England (5th test to be played next year), Virat Kohli & Co. will look to wrap up this memorable cycle with a historical series victory in South Africa. Among the major cricketing nations, the rainbow nation is the only place where India are yet a win a Test series.
Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh feels that the upcoming tour is a golden opportunity for India to win a Test series in South Africa for the first time in history. Harbhajan claimed that the South Africa team is not as strong as it used to be in earlier years.
Speaking on his Youtube Channel, Harbhajan said, “I believe this is India’s golden opportunity to win their first Test series in South Africa. If we look at their team, it is not as strong as it used to be. Even in the last tour, players like AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis… those guys never allowed India to win there. Although India have played well there, they have never won a series and this is their best chance because their batting isn’t great.”
Harbhajan was part of the Indian team that toured South Africa in 2001 and 2010. Harbhajan played a major role in India winning a Test match in the country for only the second time in 2010 as he picked up four wickets the first innings and two more in the second to help MS Dhoni’s men level the series. In the following game at Cape Town, India were very close to a series victory but a marathon final day effort by Jacques Kallis denied the visitors a win.
India will begin the tour with a Test match on Boxing Day (December 26) in Centurion followed by games in Johannesburg and Cape Town. The two teams will then play each other in 3 ODIs in Paarl and Cape Town.