South Africa vs India Tests 2013: 5 battles that will decide the series outcome

Overview

Test cricket can’t get any bigger than this, and there is very little to separate the importance of this series and the ongoing Ashes series in Australia.

As far as the state of the Ashes series goes, nobody expected the Australians to pull the rabbit out of the hat by not only taking the game to the Poms, but dismantling them with utmost disdain and ammunition.

The big question is whether Team India can come up with something like that, and win a Test series in the rainbow nation for the first time in Indian cricketing history.

But before entertaining any thoughts of shocking the current No. 1 Test side in their own backyard, the key members of that Indian XI will have to win the decisive battles against their South African counterparts.

Here is the list of 5 compelling battles to look forward to in the South Africa vs India Test series 2013.

Hashim Amla vs Mohamed Shami

This battle is all about Amla’s back-foot play against the swing and guile of Mohamed Shami. Amla might be the most consistent batsman over the course of the past 5 years, but there are a few frailties in his batting repertoire that could well be exploited by Mohamed Shami’s style of bowling.

Mohamed Shami was probably the most potent Indian bowler on show in the 3-match ODI series against the Proteas, and there is every chance that Shami could well be the bowler to share the new ball with the “comeback man” – Zaheer Khan.

Shami is a versatile operator, who thrives on pitching the ball up, but isn’t shy of banging it halfway down the track as well, if need be.

In the ODI series, Amla cashed in on the naivety of Indian fast men, who failed to pitch the ball up to the bat, get him driving through the covers, and consequently bring the slip cordon into play.

Whenever Hashim Amla strolls to the middle during the upcoming Test series, Mohamed Shami could well be presented with the responsibility of shaping it away from the right-hander, get him to drive through the covers and most importantly, draw him on to the front-foot.

This is probably the most decisive battle, that is sure to decide the way this Test series between South Africa and India pans out.