South Africa tour of India - Player by Player comparison at each position
The long wait is over and South Africa has finally arrived on Indian soil – and in style. The Protea heavyweights dealt a hard blow to the Indian team in the T20 series, taking it 2-0 with the final match washed out in Kolkata. The South Africans dominated most of the first match and all of the second as they crushed a hapless Indian team without a sweat. If they made India’s bowling look weak in the first T20, it was the turn of the batsmen to be steamrollered in the second T20 as India failed comprehensively with the bat and fell to their lowest total against South Africa in T20 internationals.With the ODI series scheduled to start in just a few hours, the Indian team will look to overcome to their counterparts in all departments of the game as South Africa aim to assert their dominance in the 50-over version as well. As both teams wait for the high-octane clash, experts have already identified key players for each side and how well they are expected to perform in the first match.We go a step further and analyze the numbers of each player who is likely to make the team tomorrow, and see how well they have fared in recent times. The batting numbers for each player are for that respective position in the team:
#1 Rohit Sharma and Quinton De Kock
Rohit and De Kock will open the innings
Player | Matches | Runs | Average | 100/50s | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rohit Sharma | 45 | 1854 | 45.21 | 4/12 | 209 |
Quinton De Kock | 21 | 697 | 34.85 | 2/3 | 112 |
Opening the batting for the two teams are Rohit Sharma and Quinton De Kock. Rohit has shaped up to be one of India’s best players in recent years, with two centuries in Australia this year along with a string of impressive performances at home. Rohit has gone from being a wasted talent in the middle order to one of the most destructive batsmen in the world in the space of a couple of years, which speaks volumes about his skill. De Kock on the other hand came into the spotlight with three consecutive centuries against India, and then racked up fifties against Sri Lanka, New Zealand and then a century against Australia. His aggressive strokeplay made him the perfect partner for the sedate Hashim Amla.
In terms of recent form, Rohit has scored 560 runs in 12 ODIs this year, at an average of 50.90. Though he has scored two hundreds and three fifties, he has also been dismissed for two ducks. Rohit’s form has been evident in the T20 series as he scored a terrific century in the first game. De Kock on the other hand has not had a good year, scoring only 193 runs in his 12 ODIs with just one fifty plus score. With a strong start being the backbone of an innings, the onus will be on both batsmen – De Kock in particular – to kick-start the innings in style.