IND VS SA: Suresh Raina Picks Out His X-Factor For The Test Series.

Former India batter Suresh Raina made his predictions and picked out the X-factor for the upcoming 2-match Test series featuring India and South Africa. For the record, the Indian men’s cricket team will face South Africa in their third series of the ongoing World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle. The two Test matches between India and South Africa will be played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata from November 14 to 18 and Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati from November 22 to 26.

Ahead of the start of the two-match Test series between India and WTC 2025 winners South Africa, former India middle-order batter Suresh Raina was asked to make his predictions for the upcoming series. According to Raina, 28 year old wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant, who is back in the Indian Test team after missing the last series against West Indies due to a foot injury that he suffered on Day 1 of the fourth India-England Test in July 2025, will be the X-factor for the hosts.

Suresh Raina gives his thoughts and predictions on the series ahead. 

In a video shared by Star Sports on X, Raina apart from picking Pant as the X-Factor, also predicted that world No. 1 Test bowler Jasprit Bumrah will be the standout performer for the hosts. Raina said: “I think the standout player from India will be Jasprit Bumrah, because the matches in both the grounds will start at 8:30 am. You will get to see a different kind of reverse swing, red ball alag tarah se chalegi and Kuldeep Yadav. And the biggest X-factor will be Rishabh Pant, because Rishabh Pant has a different kind of batting style. Because the runs will be made with a lot of force, both the grounds are very small.” 

Abhishek Nayar gives his predictions for the upcoming series. 

Former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar also made his predictions for the standout player and mentioned two names in Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant. Nayar said: “The standout player for me, always when it comes to Test Match Cricket, there are two people actually, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant.” 

Rishabh Pant has played a total of three Test matches for India against South Africa and in six innings of those three fixtures, he has amassed a total of 186 runs.

It remains to be seen as to who steps up and becomes the standout for this series and which team steps up to the plate. An interesting series is definitely on the cards.

IND VS SA: Interesting Series on the cards? 

It will be an interesting series for sure between both sides and it won’t be a cakewalk for sure. The series promises lots of thrills and spills. India are a strong formidable team at home, but South Africa who are also the reigning WTC holders will not be pushovers. They will challenge India to the limit and it will be for the home team to respond to the challenges and questions asked.

South Africa will be led by Temba Bavuma who is a leader of men and have got a galaxy of superstars in their line-up like Aiden Markram, Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen to name a few. South Africa have got three quality spinners that can challenge and bamboozle India in Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer and Senuran Muthusamy. The pace bowling looks good and so does the batting and it seems that the visitors have got all bases covered according to the conditions in hand.

India will have to dig deep and play well as they are not invincible anymore at home just what New Zealand showed last year. It will be important to see how the pitch behaves as we do not expect rank turners for this series. India at home is still a formidable side no doubt, but if they take it easy, they will be brutally exposed and found out by the South Africans.

Let’s see how the series pans out as it promises to be an epic series in this short 2-Test series.

Also Read: IND vs SA: Gautam Gambhir Outlines Challenges Ahead For Team India In T20Is