Indian captain Rohit Sharma will have the opportunity to break the elite record of previous India captain and renowned wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni in the two-match test series against South Africa.
The Men in Blue will face South Africa in a two-match Test series, with the opening match taking place at Centurion’s SuperSport Park.
India has never won a Test series in South Africa before, but under Rohit Sharma’s leadership, the world’s number one Test team is determined to make history. During the 2021-22 series, India won the Test match played in Centurion, and they would like to repeat this performance and take a giant step towards securing their first Test series win in South Africa.
Rohit Sharma, who recently performed well in the ODI World Cup 2023, is back in the team for the two-match Test series and would like to retain his ace form in the first Test. The Indian captain will get the opportunity to surpass MS Dhoni’s 78 sixes in the two-match series.
Dhoni is only second to Virender Sehwag in terms of the most sixes hit for India in red-ball cricket. Rohit Sharma has hit 77 sixes during his career and would look to break the record of the legendary Indian skipper.
Indian Skipper Rohit Sharma seems to have moved on from the disappointment of losing the World Cup final. He is now preparing for his maiden Test as captain in South Africa, which will take place on Boxing Day at Centurion. This will be his first competitive match since the World Cup final loss against Australia.
During the World Cup, Rohit Sharma played an important role as an aggressive opening batsman. He scored 597 runs at a strike rate of 125, helping India get off to brilliant starts in most of the matches. However, in South Africa, he has only scored 123 runs in whites, averaging little more than 15 runs.
Nevertheless, this will be his first Test visit to the country since beginning a revitalizing run as a Test opener in 2019, and he would be keen on leading the team to their first Test series victory in South Africa.
In the upcoming first test against the Proteas, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will lead the inexperienced Indian batting team. Youngsters, including Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Shreyas Iyer, are expected to play their first test on South African soil. However, the circumstances will be difficult for the batters in Centurion.