Indore: It may be a mere formality match on paper but the Indian bowlers will once again face a tough challenge in the final match of the three-match series against South Africa here on Tuesday. After winning the first T20I series against South Africa at home, the Indian team management has decided to rest star batsman Virat Kohli for the final match.
“He (Kohli) has been rested from the final T20 International,” an official of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said. After the final T20 against South Africa, Kohli will join the team in Mumbai from where the team is scheduled to leave for Australia on October 6 for the T20 World Cup. It is expected that stand-by batsman Shreyas Iyer will replace Kohli in the final T20.
The Indian batting line-up has come a long way since being knocked out of the group stage of the T20 World Cup twelve months ago and the batting line-up looks strong ahead of the T20 World Cup starting in Australia next month. Most of the batsmen in the team are the same who played in the last tournament in UAE but what has made a difference is the change in attitude. India’s top three batsmen have been in pretty good form ahead of the ICC tournament. Lokesh Rahul allayed concerns about his strike rate with an aggressive half-century on Sunday.
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From the Asia Cup, Virat Kohli has scored runs at a strike rate of more than 140 and during this time apart from three half-centuries, he also scored the much-awaited century. Captain Rohit Sharma also played some impressive innings during the home series against Australia and South Africa. Suryakumar Yadav, who is handling the responsibility of batting at number four, is also running in excellent form and it is proving very difficult for the bowlers to stop him.
Captain Rohit is so impressed with him that he is thinking of playing him directly in the first match of the team’s World Cup against Pakistan on 23 October. Rishabh Pant hasn’t got a chance to bat in the series so far. Dinesh Karthik got to play seven balls in the second T20 and he too would be hoping to get more batting time. Jasprit Bumrah’s absence has compounded India’s problems with bowling, especially in the death overs.
However, if this star fast bowler is not fit for the T20 World Cup, then India will have to find his replacement. Deepak Chahar, one of the reserve players of the World Cup, has impressed with the new ball but there is a question mark about his bowling in the final overs of the innings. Arshdeep has impressed with both the new and the old ball but he proved to be very expensive in the second T20 on Sunday. The left-arm fast bowler also bowled three no-balls during this period.
Fast bowler Harshal Patel, who is returning from injury, has not looked as impressive and has not been able to achieve the desired results. Red ball legend Ravichandran Ashwin has not been able to take a single wicket in the series so far and the team will be hoping for a wicket from him in the middle overs. In the absence of Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, who was included in the team, may get a chance to play at the Holkar Stadium.
South African bowlers found it difficult to catch the ball amid high humidity in Guwahati and bowled a lot of full toss to the Indian batsmen which they would like to improve. Despite the series loss, there have been a lot of positives in the batting department for South Africa. David Miller scored an unbeaten century on Sunday while Quinton de Kock also scored a half-century ahead of the World Cup. The biggest concern for the team is the form of captain Temba Bavuma who failed to open an account in the two matches of the series.
The team is as follows:
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Lokesh Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Umesh Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Shahbaz Ahmed and Mohammad Siraj.
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (Captain), Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuyn, Reeza Hendrix, Henrik Klaasen, Marco Jensen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Enrique Norkia, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwayne Pretoriers, Kagiso Rabadeau, , Tabrez Shamsi and Tristan Stubbs. (agency)