Ipl 2018 letest updates

The T20I series between India and South Africa finished in a 1-1 result with the first match getting washed out. The focus now shifts to the longest format with three Test matches. With different personnel and things to play for courtesy the ICC World Test Championship, neither side would want to give an inch. India have already made a confident start to the Test Championship with 2-0 series win over West Indies and like India, the Proteas would be looking to get a positive start to the Championship.

With Faf du Plessis, who wasn't a part of the T20 side, joining the fold and leading the Proteas with the first Test starting from 2 October in Visakhapatnam, there is plenty of talent on display in both the squads which can produce some interesting duels.

Here's a look at some of the key battles for the India vs South Africa Test series:

Virat Kohli vs Kagiso Rabada

Kagiso Rabada will lead South Africa's bowling attack. AP

A few years ago, this could well have been a Virat Kohli vs Dale Steyn battle and it would have the cricketing world salivating. With Steyn having retired from Tests, the next fiercest bowling option for South Africa comes in the form of Kagiso Rabada. During the 2015 series, Rabada played three matches and picked up only two wickets — of Kohli in Mohali and Ravindra Jadeja in Nagpur. That series would well be remembered for the controversy surrounding the pitches prepared with most purchase coming for the spinners. Last year, a much more experienced Rabada took 18 Indian wickets at home. During the series, Rabada would pick up Kohli's wicket once again.

Both are highly gifted players and it will be a contest worth watching. They hold each other in high regard. "Rabada is a world-class bowler. He has the kind of skillset to go through any batting order on his day," Kohli had said of the 24-year-old seamer at the World Cup. Rabada recently said: "Virat is already regarded as a great of the game with some pedigree. Playing him is an opportunity to test yourself as a player."

Cheteshwar Pujara vs Vernon Philander

File image of Cheteshwar Pujara. AP

Another battle between an Indian batsman and a South Africa bowler which promises plenty is the Cheteshwar Pujara vs Vernon Philander one. Philander has played six matches against India, collected 28 wickets at a best of 9/75. Only two of those matches have come in India where he's picked three wickets — 3/61 in Mohali in 2015. At the other end of the pitch will be Cheteshwar Pujara. After the massive highs of the series win in Australia where Pujara played a crucial role, he scored 60 runs in two Tests against the West Indies. Not the best showing with the bat but these are still early days into the season. There's similarity in the art of the two players. Both are crafty and yet patient — a skill missing in most players in today's T20 world.

Pujara has played 11 Tests against the Proteas and scored 613 runs — 202 in India (from 4 matches) and 411 in South Africa (from 7 matches)  with a highest of 153 in Johannesburg in 2013. True to himself, Pujara has been a patient batter against Philander whenever these two have squared up. Philander has bowled 277 balls to Pujara and gone for 82 runs with 240 dots and 11 boundaries. The South African seamer has only been able to get rid of Pujara just once.

Faf du Plessis vs Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja and Faf du Plessis battle will be one to watch out for during the Test series. AP file photo

From IPL teammates at Chennai Super Kings to foes on the international arena. Faf du Plessis against Ravindra Jadeja would also be an interesting battle, provided Jadeja takes the field. It is difficult to ascertain how India will set up in the spin department with multiple options. Faf has played nine Tests against India and scored 440 runs at an average of 27.50 with the highest score of 134. Looking at his showing in the Indian sub-continent, Faf has only 60 runs from four matches at a miserable average of 8.57. The right hander has been dismissed 14 times against India — 7 with pace and equally with spin. In India, he's been sent packing by a spinner each time — four times by the guile of Jadeja, twice by Ravichandran Ashwin and once by Amit Mishra.

Put Faf and Jadeja head-to-head and you notice that the spinner steals the show. With Jadeja's ability to get the ball to spin away from the right handed batsman or skid on off the surface, Faf has found it difficult against the left-arm spinner. Jadeja has bowled 149 balls to him and gone for just 35 runs while getting him out four times — twice he's been bowled while he's been caught and adjudged leg one time each. It was Jadeja who struck to remove Faf after a dogged effort by AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla in Delhi in 2015. Faf was looking set to stay in the middle for long having opened his account after 53 balls!

Ravichandran Ashwin vs Dean Elgar

Dean Elgar has been dismissed five times by Ravichandran Ashwin. AP File Photo

In another battle of India's spin against South Africa's bat, Ashwin would look to show off his prowess with the ball against opener Elgar. Again, it is tough to say whether Ashwin will be part of the Test side having not been included in the two matches in the Caribbean. But if he is, he would be eager to repeat his heroics of 2015 where he picked 31 wickets to emerge as the leading wicket-taker against the Proteas.

Elgar has 344 runs from seven matches against India with 137 (in 4 matches) coming away. All four of those matches were played in 2015 where he top-scored with just 38. On the other end, 38 of Ashwin's 342 Test wickets have come against South Africa with seven coming away from home. He wreaked havoc in 2015 with 8, 4, 12 and 7 wickets respectively in Mohali, Bengaluru, Nagpur and Delhi. Ashwin boasts of a stronger record against lefties than the righties. He has 181 wickets when bowling to a right-handed batsman and 161 vs a leftie. To further highlight his ability to get early wickets, he accounts for the 1st batsman (and sixth batsman) 40 times.

Coming to a closer analysis of the two players involved, Elgar and Ashwin have faced off on 227 deliveries. The batsman has been able to add 91 runs to his career tally including eight boundaries and three sixes. But Ashwin has had the measure of Elgar on five instances — getting him bowled once and caught four times. Dilruwan Perera, Moeen Ali and Nathan Lyon are the other international bowlers to have dismissed Elgar as many times.

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