As India gear up for the Boxing Day Test against South Africa, the team management is likely to face a selection conundrum due to the absence of veteran speedster Mohammed Shami. The fast bowler’s selection of the two Tests was subject to fitness. However, he wasn’t cleared by the BCCI medical team and was ultimately ruled out. Shami was the highest wicket-taker for India in the last tour of South Africa which comprised three Tests. He scalped 14 wickets in three games, averaging 21.
Given the conditions in Johannesburg, India will most likely take the field with four fast-bowling options and a spinner. With two seasoned campaigners in Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, the challenge is to pick the right option from Mukesh Kumar and Prasidh Krishna to fill the vacant spot of a third pacer in the playing XI.
Speaking about the toss-up between Mukesh and Prasidh at the pre-match presser on Monday, Rohit said it’s hard to choose one as both of them are quality bowlers with different capabilities.
“It’s a tough call to pick one from Mukesh and Prasidh. We need to see what the team wants and how the pitch would behave. I discussed with Rahul Bhai and KL about our last trip to South Africa. Rahul had scored a hundred here [in centurion]. So, I asked him how the pitch played. He has given me his feedback and things are going through my mind about what has to be done,” Rohit told reporters on the eve of the Boxing Day Test in Centurion.
“Both Mukesh and Prasidh are different bowlers. The latter is taller, hits the deck hard and can extract a lot from the pitch. And what Mukesh has done lately is also quite impressive. So, it would depend on how the wicket will play and what we want,” he added.
The Indian captain said 75% of the decision-making is done, the remaining 25 will be sorted later in the day.
“We have Bumrah and Siraj already. Just need to sort out whom should we pick. 75 percent of things are done, the remaining 25 will be sorted in the team meeting,” he concluded.
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