India and South Africa will face off in the first Test at Mohali starting November 5. The two teams have had some engaging contests in the recent past. South Africa have had the upper hand at home, and have also managed to hold India to a stalemate in India. However, this is the first time they are touring India without either Jacques Kallis or Graeme Smith, and the lack of bowling support for Dale Steyn is likely to cause a few problems as well. As such, India have an excellent chance of finally pulling off a Test series win over the Proteas. Scorecard: India vs South Africa 2015, 1st Test at Mohali
In order to do that, it is imperative for India to select the right personnel for the opening encounter. If skipper Virat Kohli decides to persist with his five-bowler strategy, and he is likely to, the major question that arises is which all-rounder to play between Ravindra Jadeja or Stuart Binny. Kohli seems to prefer pace to spin, and had even chosen Binny for the second and third Tests against Sri Lanka. Binny had bowled quite well in that series, though the numbers might not suggest so.
Given that the first Test will be played in Mohali, which has traditionally helped seamers, the chances of Binny playing are fairly good. And yet, given the phenomenal form Jadeja has been in, ignoring him for the Test will be quite difficult. Jadeja was an integral part of India’s Test team till a loss of form and fitness led to his ouster, but he is now back and raring to go. His recent form has been exceptional; he took six successive five-wicket hauls in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2015-16. Seeing the way South Africa handled spin as opposed to how they fared against pace in the One-Day International (ODI) series, it would seem spin would be the way to go.
Both Jadeja and Binny have batted at No. 7 in the past, each without much success. Jadeja’s First-Class batting numbers are certainly better than Binny’s — he is one of a select few with three First-Class triple tons — but despite that he has not been prolific with the bat in Test cricket. Their batting will undoubtedly be vital given that India will in all probability go in with one batsman short. Despite that, India have a long but reliable tail with RavichandranAshwin, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma (who will miss the first Test due to a one-match ban), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and recent First-Class centurion UmeshYadav.
There is a third option as well; both Binny and Jadeja play at the cost of Mishra, thereby giving India three pacers and two spinners. However, that is unlikely to happen since Mishra bowled wonderfully in Sri Lanka recently and was decent in the ODIs against South Africa as well. Also knowing Kohli, he prefers playing a leg-spinner and in his first Test as captain at Adelaide last year, he picked debutant Karn Sharma over Ashwin. To add to that, Mohali was the venue of Mishra’s first Test, where he took a five-wicket haul against Australia on debut.
There may not be a vast difference between Jadeja and Binny with the bat, so the major question is whether Kohli will be more comfortable with an extra spinner or pacer. One feels it will all come down to how green the Mohali pitch is, and how much faith Kohli has in his pacers. Either way, a failure from whichever all-rounder plays will likely open the door to the other, while a success could close it.
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