With the series already in the bag, Team India will aim to clean sweep South Africa in the final match of the three-Test rubber beginning Saturday at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi.
Talking about the series so far, the hosts dismantled the guests with a 203-run victory in the first Test in Vizag. And in case that failed to suffice the cause, India bettered their performance in the next game, registering a comprehensive victory by an innings and 137 runs in Pune.
In the first match, Rohit Sharma, who was opening for the first time in Tests, was the star of the match with the scores of 176 and 127 in the first and second innings, respectively, whereas Mayank Agarwal too impressed with a double century (215) in the first innings.
Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin took 8 wickets in the match to hand India a comprehensive victory.
In the second match, South Africa were again outplayed by a double ton from skipper Virat Kohli. The 30-year-old scored 254 not out which included 33 boundaries and two half-dozens.
Mohammed Shami and Ravichandran Ashwin took 6 wickets each to finish the match a day before its anticipated date.
The series may have already been decided but the third Test cannot be called a dead rubber as 40 points are up for grabs in the World Test Championship (2019-21). India, having won the first two matches, are sitting on top of the table with 200 points, including 120 points from series against West Indies.
The pitch is expected to assist the spinners a little more which might prompt Kohli to field an extra spinner at the expense of a fast bowler.
To add to South Africa’s worry, opener Aiden Markram has been ruled out of the Ranchi Test due to self-inflicted wrist injury.
Here are the Probable XIs of both the teams:
India Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Shami.
South Africa Probable XI: Vernon Philander, Dean Elgar, Faf du Plessis (Captain), Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Temba Bavuma, Zubayr Hamza, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Senuran Muthusamy.