South Africa vs India: Opening woes for visitors puts KL Rahul in contention for Centurion Test

Team India faced an embarrassing defeat in the first Test of their tour of South Africa this season. They had a small total to chase for the win but ended up bundling short of it big time. A lot of blame has been put on the struggling Indian openers for the batting woes. Amidst this backdrop, there is a strong chance that KL Rahul could get a game in the next Test.

The second Test of the three-match Test series is set to be played at Centurion. Centurion is renowned to be one of the quicker venues in the country. Indian batsmen were beaten by sheer pace at Cape Town. Hence, the struggle could get even worse at Centurion. “They’re renowned for being a little bit quicker,” Faf du Plessis had recently confirmed.

Analyzing what went wrong for the visitors, it is pretty much evident that the top order failed in both the innings. On a struggling tour such as this one, the team expects their openers to come good. Murali Vijay, who had scored 97 in one of the innings when India last toured South Africa, failed to sight the balls in either of the innings at Cape Town.

For a player of his calibre, who has over a decade of experience in Test cricket, this was totally unacceptable. Interestingly, this is his third visit to the country for a Test series. On the other hand, Shikhar Dhawan struggled big time too. He played a rash pull shot off the bowling of Dale Steyn to be dismissed in an ugly fashion.

‘Indian openers need to settle down’

Dhawan, too, is on his second tour of South Africa. Despite the experience, the Indian openers failed to click. Former South African speedster Fannie de Villiers believe that the visitors still stand a chance if their openers work well. “India still have a mighty chance. The Indian openers need a bit of settling down,” he quoted as per the quotes in Times of India.

Considering the horses for courses nature of skipper Virat Kohli, it is likely that KL Rahul could get a look in for the next Test. KL Rahul has been in a fine form in the recent times and his hunger for runs in the longest format is very well known to all.

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