Five debatable selections under Virat Kohli in Tests

#4 Rohit Sharma ahead of Ajinkya Rahane (both the Tests), Ishant Sharma ahead of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Centurion Test)

Against South Africa, Cape Town, 5-8 January 2018

Against South Africa, Centurion, 13-17 January 2018

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ajinkya Rahane made a big impact in India's win at Johannesburg

For the first Test of the South Africa series, India made a very big call to drop the vice-captain and their best batsman in overseas conditions Ajinkya Rahane with Rohit Sharma who had struggled in the previous away tours preferred over him. The reason given for his omission was the poor form against Sri Lanka at home where Rohit amassed 217 runs in three innings. All the batsmen barring Hardik Pandya failed in the first Test, but, the management stuck to their original choice Rohit for the second Test too.

Another interesting selection for the second Test was that of Ishant Sharma for Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Bhuvi was the pick of the Indian bowlers in the first Test picking six wickets and also contributed with the bat. However, Ishant was selected for his ability to extract more bounce from the Centurion wicket.

After losing the first two Tests, both Rahane and Bhuvneshwar were picked for the third Test at Wanderers. The duo were the key performers in India’s great victory with Rahane contributing a vital 48 runs in the second innings and Bhuvneshwar coming up with an all-round show (63 runs and 4 wickets) to be awarded the “Man of the Match” award.