India vs South Africa Test Series 2025: Big Challenge Awaits Captain Shubman Gill at Home
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India vs South Africa Test Series 2025, Can Gill’s young side overcome the Ashwin–Jadeja void at home?
The upcoming Test series against South Africa, starting from November 14th, will be a big challenge for the Indian team. For the young captain Shubman Gill and coach Gautam Gambhir, there is a strong possibility that this home Test series will be a tough one. The South African team seems well-prepared after playing a Test series against Pakistan. Let’s discuss this home Test series against the World Test Champions, South Africa especially the challenges that may lie ahead for the Indian side.
So Far, No Match for Ashwin :
The pair of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have dominated on home pitches for many years. However, the Indian team is currently going through a period of transition. Since Ashwin’s retirement, the team hasn’t yet found a solid replacement in the spin department. Although Jadeja continues to play, he hasn’t found a spin partner as effective as Ashwin. Even though spinners like Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Washington Sundar are part of the squad, their bowling performances have lacked consistency. Kuldeep, in particular, hasn’t been given many chances on home soil. In the recent Test series against the West Indies, he performed well, but his poor show against the South Africa A team has now become a talking point. One can only hope that India soon finds another match-winning spinner like Ashwin.
Lack of Consistency in Bowling:
We all know that, the West Indies test team is a relatively weak side, yet in the second innings of the second Test, even after being asked to follow on, they managed to put up a strong batting performance against Indian bowling attack. South Africa, on the other hand, are a much stronger team with a deep and attacking batting lineup.
Since the Test series against New Zealand, the Indian bowling unit has struggled with consistency. At times, in just one session, bowlers have leaked so many runs especially boundaries, that it has put the team in danger. Having bowlers operating at an economy rate of 5–6 runs per over in a Test match is a worrying sign. As a result, the momentum of a match can shift drastically within a single session.
Captain Gill and the team management must pay serious attention to this issue. The fact that the South Africa A team recently chased down a target of 417 runs in the second innings against bowlers like Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav, and Prasidh Krishna is certainly cause for concern.
Batting Challenges:
On home pitches, batting might not be too difficult, but facing the World Test Champions will certainly not be as easy as it was against the West Indies. No doubt, during the series against England, this young Indian side did produce some moments of brilliance with the bat. The performance of Sai Sudharsan at number three will be particularly crucial for the team. However, his recent performances have been far from satisfactory even in the matches against the South Africa A team, he failed to make an impact. After recovering from injury, Rishabh Pant is expected to return to the playing XI, which means either Dhruv Jurel or Nitish Reddy might miss out.
India will also have to stay alert against South Africa’s three spinners Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer, and Senuran Muthusamy. All three spinners performed exceptionally well in their recent Test series against Pakistan.
Fielding Concerns:
From a fielding perspective, South Africa likely to be ahead of team India. Dropped catches have become a persistent issue for the Indian team. The management will surely need to address this problem seriously.
The Pitch and Series Expectations:
The first Test will be played at Kolkata’s famous Eden Gardens. According to reports, the pitch curator has stated that the Eden pitch will be a “sporting wicket.” From the second day onward, bowlers are expected to get both bounce and turn from the surface.
We can hope to witness a thrilling Test series between the two sides, and at the same time, Indian fans will be eager to see the home team emerge victorious.
Thank you.
