The limited over enocunters are over. South Africa have got the better of India in both the ODIs and the T20s. The teams will now slug it out in the Test series.
But just ahead of the Test series, things are not looking good in the visitors camp; JP Duminy, who suffered an injury during the Rajkot ODI, is yet to recover completely. Morne Morkel too is not free from injury.
Duminy tried to hold on to a hard return catch but instead hurt the webbing of his right hand. It will be known on 1 November whether he will be featuring in the first Test match at Mohali, once the bandage on his hand is removed.
"He would not be playing in the (two-day) game here (at the Cricket Club of India against Board President's XI commencing tomorrow). His chances of playing at Mohali are 50:50 at present," South Africa's media manager Lerato Malekutu told reporters at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.
South Africa will be playing a two-day practice game against India's Board President's XI at the Brabourne Stadium from Friday. Morkel too will not be featuring in the two-day game. He had picked up an injury on his leg during the same Rajkot ODI and could not play the last two ODIs against India. But South Africa media manager Malekutu has stated that the condition of Morkel is not that bad and "he is doing fine."
Not only is Duminy a terrific batsman but also bowls useful off-spinners in turning pitches. The Mohali deck is expected to be a turning one and if Duminy misses the game, South Africa will miss him dearly.
They will have to think about an able replacement. Although during the ODI series, Dean Elgar replaced Duminy, he is not an all-rounder like Duminy. South Africa Test skipper Hashim Amla will be hoping that Duminy recovers quickly before the first Test match against India to be played at Mohali.
