Veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik believes that the Virat Kohli-led Indian cricket team has the best chance this time around to beat South Africa at home in the upcoming three-match Test series, starting on December 26 at SuperSport Park in Centurion.
India has never won a Test series in South Africa, and the last time they toured the country in 2018, Team India gave the hosts a tough fight in every game, but could only win one out of the three Tests.
Karthik told Cricbuzz: “Absolutely, hundred percent, this is the best chance for India to take on South Africa in their home conditions and probably go on to win it and win it pretty comfortably. I say that because India has a potent fast bowling lineup and have a very very good batting lineup as well.”
He also said that South Africa have a strong bowling attack, but their "vulnerable" batting line-up can put them on the backfoot in the upcoming three-match Test series against India.
The wicketkeeper-batter added, “On the other hand, South Africa have a very good bowling line-up, especially the fast bowlers- (Kagiso) Rabada, (Anrich) Nortje, (Dwaine) Pretorius and their likes. But when it comes to their batting it's pretty vulnerable, they are pretty dependent on one or two players to fire. The rest of them don't have as much experience or wherewithal to handle a high-quality bowling line-up like India. So, definitely, I would have my money on India at this stage.”
However, Karthik admitted that India will start the Test series as favorites against South Africa, but said it would be really interesting to see how Indian batting shapes up against the top-class Proteas attack.
He signed off by saying, “I do feel that India holds the aces when they go to South Africa as they are high on confidence. But it will be really interesting to see how Indian batting shapes up against South Africa bowling, that is a big deal. If India will find a way to stitch partnerships and get a couple of hundreds every time when somebody goes out to bat, then I think India will be well on their way to doing what they did pretty phenomenally well in Australia.”
