Name given to Ind vs SA test series is Freedom trophy after the great names of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, and the series is going to start on the October 2nd.
The home team mostly had the upper hand except the 1996 (India) and 2010 (South Africa) encounter. This is the 3rd version of the Freedom Trophy, and each team won the trophy once on their home soil.
South Africa includes the inexperience but the younger players in their team this time, so theoretically, India has the advantage, not just of the home soil but also the more experience compare to the visitor team, but it is shown some times, the younger blood can surprise the oppositions, so India may need to pay the cost, if the team will take the tourists lightly.
Visakhapatnam, the venue, will witness just the second test, and the maiden was against the England, where India won it by 246 runs, a big margin. The record shows the pitch might be typical, win toss bat first pitch, as it may support the spinner in the third and forth innings of the test, which happened in the past.
Teams prefer to play with at least 2 spinners and could play with three as well, as both the teams include three spinners in their squad of 15s.
India could ask K. Yadav to sit out, as R. Ashwin and R. Jadeja could get the spot by default, though Yadav is a variety, but H. Vihari could get a chance as he could increase the batting line with addition of his part time off spin. S. Gill might not get the spot that easily, and wait till any of default eleven make a spot for him, either due to injury or bad performance or in a rare occasion with some other reason. R. Pant has the advantage of being a left handed batsman, and his test performance, particularly in recent tour of Australia, could give him the place.
Tentative eleven of India: RG. Sharma, M. Agarwal, C. Pujara, V. Kohli, A. Rahane, H. Vihari, R. Pant, R. Ashwin, R. Jadeja, I. Sharma, M. Shami.
South Africa is at the minimum risk this time, as their team is in the period of transformation. Young players, like T. de Bruyn, Z. Hamza, S. Muthusamy, A. Nortje etc. have good opportunity to cement their spot in the team. SA could play with three spinners and two seamers or vice versa.
Tentative eleven of SA: D. Elgar, A. Markram, F. du Plessis, Z. Hamza, T. Bavuma, Q. de Kock, V. Philander, S. Muthusamy / L. Ngidi, K. Rabada, K. Maharaj, D. Piedt
