Team India faces South Africa in their eighth game of the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, held at Eden Gardens, Kolkata this Sunday (November 5). This match holds significance for both teams. The Proteas seem to be India’s tightest rivals for the championship.
South Africa’s last World Cup success against Team India was in 2011. They smoothly won the match in Nagpur. However, in the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, Team India defeated South Africa.
Team India will need to bowl incredibly effectively to beat the Proteas, and if early indications are correct, they should be able to do so. Their bowlers have shone for them in every game this World Cup, with the destruction of Sri Lanka for 55 in their last encounter taking the cake.
We look at India’s highest wicket-takers in World Cups vs South Africa. Surprisingly, all three of them are spinners.
1. Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal, a leg spinner, tops this list with four scalps against South Africa in the 2019 World Cup. In the league stage of the World Cup, Team India played only one game against the Proteas, which they won by five wickets.
While opener Rohit Sharma’s century was well publicized, little attention was paid to Chahal’s contribution in limiting the Proteas to 227-9 at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.
Chahal bowled with an economy rate of 5, allowing 51 runs in 10 overs. In addition, he is not a member of India’s World Cup roster, and only time will tell if his absence is felt.
2. Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin, who was called up to the Indian side for the present World Cup because to the injury to Axar Patel, ranks second on this list with three wickets.
He only faced the Proteas once, in the 2015 World Cup, which was hosted in Australia and New Zealand, and finished with a 3-41 record at the MCG.
Team India set their opponents a massive goal of 308 to chase, but Ashwin’s heroics meant that they were bowled out for 177 in forty overs. Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma each took two wickets. So far, India has not used Ashwin’s services in this World Cup.
3. Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh is a famous cricketer. He played spin for Team India. He did this with Anil Kumble and Pragyan Ojha. He’s third on the list. He got three wickets against the Proteas.
He only played one match against South Africa. This was in the 2011 tournament.
In Nagpur, Sachin Tendulkar scored a hundred points for Team India. But, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, and AB De Villiers all scored over fifty. This meant Harbhajan’s 3-53 wasn’t enough.
Munaf Patel also took a handful of wickets. This defeat, however, did not deter the Men in Blue, who went on to win the championship by defeating Sri Lanka in the final at the Wankhede Stadium.