India’s carrom-baller, spin wizard Ashwin bids adieu to international cricket
India's decorated off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin announced his decision to retire from international cricket moments after the Brisbane Test ended in a draw.
India have won the toss and have opted to bat against South Africa in the third and final Test at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, on Wednesday.
Virat Kohli’s side will aim to bounce back after their defeat in the first two Tests against South Africa at Newlands Cape Town and Centurion by 72 runs and 135 runs, respectively. Talking about the final Test, Indian skipper Virat Kohli strongly believed in deriving strength from India’s performance at the Wanderers in 2013.
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“Definitely the things that worked for us last time, we’ll focus on that. Although there is more grass on the wicket this time, you know the pace and bounce will probably be similar to what it was in 2013. Their bowling attack is slightly different but (Morne) Morkel and Philander are playing which was the case last time also. Look, we have to take the positives from that Test, what worked for us, what other things we have to repeat again to be able to perform at this game or this venue.”
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South African pacer Vernon Philander, who is going to play the 50th Test match of his career, said, “You have to put the ego aside. We all want to be the hero at the end of the day. We all want to put up our hand to be Man-of-the-Match but not every surface is going to allow that. It is about being mature enough to understand that your end might not be the one to strike from and to play your role accordingly to make sure the other bowlers get the best conditions to strike.”
South Africa leads the three-match Test series with 2-0.
Teams:
South Africa (Playing XI): Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Vernon Philander, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Lungisani Ngidi
India (Playing XI): Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Parthiv Patel(w), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
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