Ind vs SA: Day of judgement
Harbhajan has bowled well in the series and will lead the charge in absence of R. Ashwin
By : irfan haji
Update: 2015-10-25 00:42 GMT
Mumbai: Indian spinners will remain the key again as M.S. Dhoni & Co. aim for one last hurrah against South Africa in the ODI series decider at Wankhede stadium here on Sunday. But Wankhede isn’t known to produce rank turners like Chennai hence spin trio of Harbhajan Singh, Axar Patel and Amit Mishra will have to bowl well to extract spin and bounce on offer from the wicket and maintain pressure on the famed South African batting line-up.
The visitors barring AB de Villiers struggled on a turning pitch at Chepauk on Thursday and badly missed JP Duminy in the middle-order and also as a slow bowler to contain Indian batsmen in the middle overs.
Morne Morkel who missed the fourth ODI after taking a four-wicket haul on a flat Rajkot wicket is doubtful for Sunday’s game. His availability would have bolstered the visitors in the finale.
However, Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada may like to bowl on that wicket more than the previous games in the ongoing five-match series. Leg-spinner Imran Tahir also will get good bounce to trouble batsmen.
Harbhajan has bowled well in the series and will lead the charge in absence of R. Ashwin. The Punjab off-spinner is familiar with Wankhede wicket having played for Mumbai Indians since the inception of the IPL. Skipper M.S. Dhoni is known to take liking for bowlers who have more control so Mohit Sharma may continue to form the Indian pace attack with Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Viart Kohli has sizzled more often at the No 3 batting slot and his classy hundred (138) at Chepauk has proved it yet again. The fans will be hoping for an yet another master class from him along with in-form local boy Rohit Sharma. However, the home team have not been able to find settled batting place for Ajinkya Rahane despite being part of 62 ODIs.
Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan has struggled. However, Rohit, Kohli and Dhoni are in fine form. Suresh Raina also returned to form in the last game. Like Dhawan, South African opener Amla is also going through a rough patch. Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis are the men in form and Farhan Behardien has played handy knocks towards the end but the man for all conditions and situations, De Villiers would be the key again for the visitors.