'Cape' of hope!

India skipper Rohit Sharma arrives for a practice session at Newlands in Cape Town yesterday. Pic/PTI

For more than 130 years since the first Test at Newlands in 1889, the majestic Table Mountain has been an imperious witness to the action that has unfolded at its foothills. It has borne testimony to 21 wins by touring sides, but India aren't among those to have tasted success here.

Rohit's poor record

Correcting precisely this anomaly will be topmost on the minds of Rohit Sharma and his men when they run into South Africa in stand-in skipper Dean Elgar's farewell Test, starting on Wednesday. Their aspirations of a maiden series victory shattered after the three-day drubbing in Centurion, India have crucial World Test Championship points to aim for, as well as the distinction of becoming only the second outfit since Mahendra Singh Dhoni's band in 2010-11 to leave these shores with the series split.

Straightforward as that task might appear, one doesn't need the events of the last week to exemplify how difficult it is for sub-continental teams, especially, to hold their own in South Africa.

Sri Lanka, with their 2-0 victory in February 2019, remain the only Asian nation to boss the Proteas in their own den; while India can't emulate their neighbours, they can at least return with honours and pride intact with an improved showing.

The unique challenges that confront Asian sides are too well documented to bear repetition. It might appear unfair to expect inexperienced youngsters to immediately hit their straps and adapt to conditions they won't experience anywhere else, but that's exactly what Test cricket demands. And that's exactly what Rohit will demand of himself and his team.

The skipper hasn't had a good time of it in South Africa over the years, averaging a measly 12.80 in 10 innings and five Tests spread over a decade. Driven by the raging fire to lead from the front, Rohit will attempt to set the tone, probably aware, but not conscious of the fact that he has been dismissed by Kagiso Rabada five times in six innings in this country.

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Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer are on their first Test tour of South Africa, so once again, the team will look to the seasoned trio of Rohit, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul to lead the way if India are to compete on an equal footing.

The imminent return from injury of Ravindra Jadeja won't hurt, but with the ball, he will largely embrace a supporting role to a pace quartet in which Prasidh Krishna is expected to keep his place.

Lungi Ngidi in

For South Africa, under fire for naming a below-strength Test squad for the tour of New Zealand with the big boys playing their flagship T20 event, the chance to school the world's No. 1 side 2-0 and give Elgar the perfect going-away gift will be too tempting to pass up. They are all set to welcome back tested quick Lungi Ngidi, which is unlikely to make India's task any easier.