India will look to round out their preparation for the T20 World Cup with a marked improvement in their death bowling, in addition to providing crucial playing time to its untested players in the three-match series against South Africa, which starts here on Wednesday. . Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was expected to point out death bowling as an area in need of improvement after the win over Australia.
The hosts will be without two of their main bowlers, Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, for the ICC event next month.
Mohammad Shami, who is one of the World Cup reserves, has yet to recover from COVID-19 and will miss three games against the Proteas after being unavailable for the rubber against Australia.
Harshal Patel didn’t have the best of times in his comeback series against Australia, but he is expected to be at his best in the last three games before the World Cup.
His career economics rate stands at 9.05 but he gave up over 12 runs per over against the Aussies.
Deepak Chahar, who is also on standby for the Word Cup, didn’t get a game in the previous series and could get a chance if the team decides to rotate its pacers over the three games. Arshdeep Singh returns to bolster the team’s resources in the slog-overs, forming an effective combination alongside Jasprit Bumrah, who strives to regain his full rhythm after coming back from injury.
In the series decider against Australia, Yuzvendra Chahal showed what he can do when it grabs and spins the ball after appearing flat in the first two games. Taking into account the Australian conditions, the cunning leg spinner will try to improve his game on docile fields. While Rohit talked about the importance of giving all players playing time ahead of the World Cup, R Ashwin was able to take a look.
In the batting division, KL Rahul would like to get the most out of these three games after missing the last two games against Australia.
Now that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are in good contact, it is important that Rahul is also on the move before the team travels to Australia. Dinesh Karthik got to play all eight balls against Australia and Rohit has already said the designated finisher in the squad will need more time in the middle. World Cup tied Deepak Hooda will eventually miss all six games for the mega event as he has been ruled out of the South African T20s with a back injury. Shreyas Iyer is expected to take Hooda’s place in the squad.
In the coming week, India will face a team they have yet to beat at home in a bilateral series. South Africa and India will face each other in a group stage match in Australia and while conditions are completely different here, both teams can pick areas to target in the next three matches.
“The fields in Australia will be different and the ground will be a lot bigger, but as a bowler there is always something you can work on. It’s a great opportunity to bowl with these Indian batters and pick up a few things. ” and use it against them at the World Cup,” said Tabraiz Shamsi.
All eyes will also be on the young Tristian Stubbs who made it to the World Cup team thanks to his good showing in franchise cricket.
Squad: South Africa: Temba Bavuma (Captain), Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs.
promoted
India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah .
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