Who South Africa should take for the upcoming Test series in India

South Africa face their biggest challenge since becoming the No. 1 ranked Test team in the world

After a disappointing end to our world cup campaign (some of us still aren’t over it), the Proteas have a new challenge up front. Beating India in India. In the past 3-4 years, South Africa has dominated the test format with ease, securing the number one title after beating England 2-1. Since then, they have won series after series, bowling out teams for low totals with the help of the pace attack of Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and Kyle Abbott.

The test mace was only lost temporarily, thanks to an unexpected loss to Australia at home. South Africa then went on to regain it with an incredible win over Sri Lanka in hot conditions and flat pitches, against quality spinners on helpful pitches on the final two days. But now, South Africa face their biggest challenge since becoming number one.

Right now, we have a new captain in Hashim Amla, who is undefeated in the 3 Tests he has captained, winning two. Alviro Petersen has retired, and we need a new opener. Vernon Philander has faded away and is no longer bowling as well as he did when he started. Morne Morkel has been bowling well but has failed to get wickets. There are question marks over Dean Elgar’s new opening partner and which of Simon Harmer and Dane Piedt gets the spinner’s spot as they both had amazing debuts.

There are a lot of potential opening batsmen. A few of them are:

Stiaan van Zyl (FC Average: 45.54, Age: 27)

Stiaan van Zyl made his Test debut vs West Indies thanks to JP Duminy getting injured. He is normally a top order batsman, but played at Duminy’s spot in the lower order. He hammered a fluent 100 in his first innings itself, scoring quicker than he normally does and helping South Africa put up a massive first innings total. He is likely to replace Alviro Petersen in the squad. However, many people think it would make more sense for a right-handed batsman to partner the left-handed Dean Elgar.

Rilee Rossouw (FC Average: 44.83, Age: 25)

Rilee Rossouw announced himself to the world with a few ducks. However, he went on to get over it and now has 2 hundreds and 3 fifties in ODIs. He is now known for his aggressive approach and excellent strokes. He makes a great candidate for an opener in Test matches as he would complement the defensive Dean Elgar quite well.

Stephen Cook (FC Average: 40.66, Age: 32)

Stephen Cook is in great form and just had an amazing Sunfoil Series. He has been racking up the runs in first class cricket and deserves a call-up. He is right-handed and it fits in the call for a right/left opening combination.

Faf du Plessis (FC Average: 40.92, Age: 30)

In 2012, Faf du Plessis impressed the world right at the beginning of his Test career with incredible match saving innings batting at No. 6 in Australia. Despite his great success in the lower order, he was moved to No. 3 after Jacques Kallis retired. With Alviro Petersen’s slump at the end of his career, he had to come in earlier anyway. There is no reason why he cannot just be pushed up one more spot to give us the highly rated right/left opening combination. This helps the team keep Van Zyl as well. This will also allow AB de Villiers to bat at 3, where he should be batting especially as Amla wants to bat at 4 since he became captain.

Other suggested options that are unlikely are Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock. I strongly disagree with either of them opening in Tests. De Kock, because he is keeping and it would just add pressure. Even the legendary Adam Gilchrist did not open in Test matches. Amla wanted to move to 4 after he became captain so he will not open anyway.

Captain Hashim Amla will need to lead from the front in India

In my opinion, an ideal top 7, taking into account that Stiaan van Zyl was selected before Rossouw, would be:

1. Faf du Plessis
2. Dean Elgar
3. AB de Villiers
4. Hashim Amla *
5. Stiaan van Zyl
6. JP Duminy
7. Quinton de Kock +

The tour of India will be our biggest challenge since becoming number one in Tests. Unlike other non-sub-continent teams, we play spin well. In fact, Hashim Amla first showed how good he really is when scored heavily against India in their own backyard. The problem will be in getting wickets against a good batting line-up on flat, turning tracks and rank turners. The key, yet again, will be Dale Steyn’s reverse swing. He was instrumental in the series win over Sri Lanka where he picked 13 wickets in 2 Tests.

Over the past 2 years, stats clearly show that Steyn has been leading the pace attack alone, with Morkel and Philander not picking many wickets. However, they are both likely to retain their places. Morkel has been bowling well most of the time, but has been unlucky not to get wickets. He picked 4 in the 2nd Test vs Sri Lanka in the second innings that helped us pull off a draw. Philander should be picked because his batting has been handy in tests and also because of how good he can be at his best based on his history.

They might be under pressure though with the rise of Kagiso Rabada and the constant success of Hardus Viljoen in the Sunfoil Series.

Imran Tahir, despite his amazing success in ODIs is not likely to make a return to the Test team because of how much he has struggled in the longer format and because of the successes enjoyed by Dane Piedt and Simon Harmer. South Africa is used to taking just one spinner on tour because of the strength of the pace attack. Piedt has not found his rhythm since his return from injury and Simon Harmer can bat a bit. However, Piedt is still likely to get called up instead as he was the selectors’ first choice. He also helps meet the quota requirements.

Whatever happens, as South African and as a cricket lover, I am looking forward to the return of Test cricket after the IPL.