India will not play a warm-up match ahead of the Test series in South Africa.
Cricket South Africa has accepted the Indian team-management’s request to scrap the two-day tour fixture against an assorted bunch of home players at Paarl on December 30 and 31.
It has been learnt by The Hindu that coach Ravi Shastri was not keen on playing a game that was not even a First Class encounter ahead of the opening Test beginning in Cape Town on January 5.
The team-management believed the team, instead, would be better off with centre-wicket practice at Newlands — the series opener will be played at this picturesque ground — either on Jan. 1 and 2, or Jan. 2 and 3.
Given the strength of its pace attack, the Indian think-tank felt its batsmen would be tested more by the side’s own seamers than those from a South African outfit.
“This way, the batsmen have a better chance of getting used to the pace and bounce of the pitches in South Africa.
“There will be greater intensity in this than playing a two-day game without First Class status or a competitive element featuring more than 15 or 16 players in each side,” a source said.
In this context, the team-management has requested the BCCI to send four young and pacy seamers — Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Basil Thampi and Avesh Khan — to bowl at the nets in South Africa. The Board is likely to give the nod.
The cramped schedule at home has hurt India’s preparation for the South Africa tour. India ends its T20 series against Sri Lanka only on December 24 and the squad leaves for South Africa four days later, leaving it without time for a preparatory camp in India and a couple of three-day First Class fixtures in South Africa. Ideally, two such matches are necessary for all the players before the three-Test series.
It is never a great idea to play an away Test series on seaming tracks so soon after back-to-back series in the shorter formats. The BCCI has clearly slipped up here and skipper Virat Kohli, too, is not happy. Left without time and pushed into a corner, the team-management has been forced to take the matter into its own hands.
