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SpORTS DECEMBER 17, 2021 | The Indian Eye 46

indian tour oF South aFriCa

Both sides name heavyweights in their sides

as big battle expected in test series

Opener Mayank Agarwal is looking forward to South Africa series to continue his fine form on foreign soil too

OuR BuREAu Mayank Agrawal
Mumbai/Pretoria
of Test cricket. This format is very important to CSA
ricket South Africa (CSA) on Tuesday an- and keeping it relevant and alive is one of the organ-
nounced a 21-strong, Proteas Test squad that isation’s priorities.
Cwill take on India in three Tests from Decem- “We are really looking forward to the return of
ber 26 to January 15. Dean Elgar and his men, it’s been a long few months Kasigo Rabada
The series will form part of the new cycle of the since the last time we saw them dominate in the
ICC World Test Championship and will be hosted West Indies. host broadcaster Star Sports at the post-match pre-
in three venues namely; SuperSport Park, Imperial Meanwhile, the All-India Senior Selection sentation.
Wanderers and Six Gun Grill Newlands respectively. Committee on Wednesday picked an 18-member Mayank also explained how he adjusted his
The National Selection Panel has gone with the same squad for the upcoming 3-match Test series against stance ahead of the second Test which eventually
core group that successfully toured the West Indies South Africa starting from December 26. yielded results for the batter last week.
in June of this year and has included three others. The following players were not available for se- “It feels good to be back among the runs and
Proteas fans will be pleased to see the return to lection due to injuries and are currently undergoing this knock is special for me. I didn’t change anything
action of household names such as Kagiso Rabada, rehabilitation: Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, Axar from Kanpur, I just had the mental discipline and
Quinton de Kock and Anrich Nortje as well as the Patel, Rahul Chahar. The All-India Senior Selection determination. The technique isn’t going to be the
reintroduction of seamer, Duanne Olivier, who has Committee also decided to name Rohit Sharma as best all the time, it won’t guarantee runs, but the will
returned to the South African domestic set-up fol- the captain of the ODI & T20I teams going forward. to fight is key,” said Mayank.
lowing a prolonged stint in the United Kingdom. Indian opener Mayank Agarwal might have per- “Rahul (Dravid) bhai told me about not think-
Olivier’s last Test appearance for South Africa formed brilliantly in the second Test against New Zea- ing of technique mid-series, and told me this is the
was in Gqeberha against Sri Lanka in February of land but the batter is looking forward to South Afri- technique that’s got me runs. Sunny sir said I should
2019. The 29-year-old has made a loud return to the ca series to continue his fine form on foreign soil too. keep my bat low early on in the innings and opening
CSA Four-Day Series, ending this year as the lead- Mayank scored 150 and 62 in the first and sec- up my left shoulder,” he signed off.
ing wicket-taker, eight scalps clear of number two, ond innings respectively of the second Test against INDIA’S TEST SquAD:
Simon Harmer. Olivier has a claim to 28 wickets in New Zealand before India defeated the Kiwis on
eight innings at an average of 11.14 and best innings Monday. With this win, India sealed the two-match Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-cap-
bowling figures of 5/53. series 1-0, and now Kohli’s side will head to South tain), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pu-
Glenton Stuurman and Prenelan Subrayen Africa for three Tests and three ODIs, beginning jara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari,
have also received nods back into the team and Si- December 26. Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin,
sanda Magala and Ryan Rickelton will be pleased to “I didn’t really think about the second hundred Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh
receive their maiden Test team call-ups. in the match, but should have converted the sixty. Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Md. Siraj.
CSA Convenor of Selectors, Victor Mpitsang We will relish the abroad challenge in South Africa, Standby Players: Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Ku-
said: “We as the Selectors are excited for the return so we’re looking forward to that too,” Mayank told mar, Deepak Chahar, Arzan Nagwaswalla.

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