India vs South Africa 2018: 3 things Team India needs to do on the Tour

Middle order batsmen need to prove themselves

Manish Pandey made the best of his opportunity in the T20s

The middle order, in the limited overs squad, is a concern for team India as they are yet to find the right combination in last one and a half years. No player have established themselves at no. 4 whether it is Dinesh Karthik or Manish Pandey. What comes as a positive is that Manish Pandey has got hundreds to his name against quality teams on foreign soil. It will also be interesting to see at which position MS Dhoni bats under the captaincy of Virat Kohli and how many times Shreyas Iyer gets to play.

Even in the longer format, the lower middle order is a cause for concern. Cheteswar Pujara and Virat Kohli have been very good at no. 3 and 4 respectively. However, the recent form of Ajinkya Rahane at no.5 and the lack of international experience in Tests of seam-bowling allrounder Hardik Pandya are major worries ahead much of the much important foreign tour(s).

It is also to be noted that Kedar Jadhav will be back after he gets fit. He was left out of the year-end series against Sri Lanka after his hamstring injury.