New Delhi, Dec 11 (IANS) Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has said that India skipper Rohit Sharma’s name will be inked in Indian cricketing history if he manages to conquer South Africa.

Rohit Sharma, who has taken rest from the white-ball series against South Africa will be back in action captaining the Indian side for two match test series starting from December 26.

India has never won an away Test series against the Proteas and Irfan believes Rohit can be the “history maker” in Test cricket.

“If Rohit Sharma is able to conquer South Africa, his name will be kept top-most in India's cricket history as captain and player because only he has the key to win both these matches. He is both an opener and a captain. If you play out the new ball, your other batters will get the chance to shine. That's why you should remove the shine from the new ball,” said Irfan Pathan to Star Sports.

Irfan went on to say that there will be a lot of dependency on Rohit and Virat Kohli during the Test series against South Africa. However, Irfan also advised Rohit to play well against new ball, score runs and carry the team forward

Rohit has scored 678 runs at an average of 42.37 in nine Tests against the Proteas.

“He went fully prepared and batted amazingly in the Test series when he went to England. I feel you will see Rohit Sharma preparing with the same passion before he goes. Rohit's challenge will be to play out the new ball, score his runs and take his team forward. We have two big brothers in this team, Rohit and Virat Kohli. There will be a lot of dependency on both of them,” he added.