One could consider India’s ongoing tour of South Africa a successful one, as there has been no looking back for the visitors since the final Test onwards. A historic ODI series win, and a potential series victory in the T20Is on Saturday evening, have proven India’s credential on the South African soil. However, Former India opener, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, still finds a few areas of concern for the team to work on.

In his column for Times of India, Srikkanth wrote: “However, one of the key areas of concern is the consistency factor with the middle-order and to an extent the form of the opening batsmen in red-ball cricket. The first Test at Cape Town was in our pocket and we should have won it easily. The defeat was due to the batting debacle and it hurt us badly. The openers didn’t fire in all the Tests and it has to be addressed going forward.”

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He further added, “While the openers turned things around in the shorter formats, the middle-order, apart from Kohli, has been very inconsistent across all formats. Yes, there have been a couple of sparkling performances here and there from a few middle-order batsmen. However, consistency is lacking and it is vital to have a solid middle-order, which is the backbone of any side. It’s a worrying sign and it has to be looked into so that we can notch up more victories abroad.”

Srikkanth hails the bowlers

Srikkanth also showered praises for Virat Kohli and his team. He wrote, “Summing it up, I would term it is a successful tour of India in South Africa. If I was the captain, I would be pleased with the way the team bounced back in Johannesburg and never looked back.”

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The fiery batsman hailed India’s bowling attack in the ongoing tour. He quipped: “Overall, there are quite a few positives from this trip. Kohli has been amazing with the bat and in leading the troops from the front. The bowling unit has been exceptional. Pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Shami have been on the ball throughout the Test series. The wrist spinners, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav joined the party during the ODIs, baffling the hosts with their guile.”