After dominating the Windies side in all formats, the Indian national cricket team is now getting ready to face South Africa at home. The Proteas side will play the T20I and Test bilateral series against the hosts India from this September to October.
At first, South Africa will play the three-match T20I series from 15th September to 22nd September. Later, they will meet in the three-match Test series that will run from 2nd to 23rd October. South Africa will play the three-match ODI series against the hosts India in March 2020 tour.
While the Indian selectors have already chosen the T20I squad, now all eyes into the upcoming Test squad selection. The national selectors can give rest or drop some players partially/entirely in the forthcoming Test series, according to players’ fitness or recent forms or other reasons.
Here are the top three Indian players who can take rest or face drop during the South Africa Test series.
KL Rahul
The 27-year-old KL Rahul is undoubtedly a very talented batsman. But his bad patch in international cricket is not ending, especially in the longest format. For a long time, Rahul is failing to perform properly in international cricket.
Since the 149 runs knock in the fourth innings of the Oval Test against England in September 2018, Rahul hasn’t registered a single 50+ score in Test cricket. After that innings, he has scored only 195 runs in 12 Test innings with an average of just 17.72.
Though many are backing Rahul in this critical moment, they also believe that Rahul can now face the drop from the Test side. However, the team management has shown enough faith in Rahul again by selecting him for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa. But if Rahul flops again in further opportunities, the team management can think about to rest or drop him from the Test side.
Also, in recent time, Rahul is a busy player as he is spending a lot of time with the national team in every format. So, even if he misses the upcoming Test series, his door in the national team is not going shut immediately.