Buoyed by their victory on Tuesday, India will hope to level the five-match series when they take on South Africa in the fourth T20I in Rajkot on Friday.
The Men in Blue bounced back in style in the third T20I after losing two in a row as they bundled the Proteas out for 131 after setting them 180 to win. The bowling unit, which was smashed all over the park in the first T20I and wasted a solid start in the second, was clinical in Visakhapatnam with Harshal Patel (4/25) and Yuzvendra Chahal (3/20) leading the way.
Additionally, openers Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad recovered from a blip in the second game as they posted individual half-centuries and laid the foundation for a challenging 179/5.
India, thus, are unlikely to change their winning combination for Match 4 especially since they're still trailing the visitors with two games to go. Which means the clamour to hand tearaway quick Umran Malik his international debut will continue to grow and the pacer from Jammu and Kashmir might have to wait just that bit longer to get his maiden cap, as will be the case for Arshdeep Singh, one of the most impressive bowlers in the recent IPL.
Off from Vizag with a win 👍 👍
On-to Rajkot with a warm welcome 👏 👏#TeamIndia | #INDvSA | @Paytm pic.twitter.com/QHokrgNMcT
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 15, 2022
There will, however, be questions asked of some of the senior players in the side. Shreyas Iyer hasn't quite been able to produce the kind of impact knock that would reassure the team management, fans and selectors of his place in the World Cup squad despite getting off to promising starts. The Kolkata Knight Riders captain has also exhibited a certain level of discomfort against the South African seamers this series, and come Friday evening, will hope to convert the 30s and 40s into a big score that puts all such doubts to rest.
Focus on Pant and Iyer
Stand-in skipper Rishabh Pant has had it worse compared to Iyer, having been dismissed for single-digit scores after his 29 in the series opener in Delhi. What has been even more frustrating for those who support the Men in Blue has been his shot selection, especially the manner in which he was dismissed by Tabraiz Shamsi in the second T20I that drew fans' ire on social media.
While the top-order has been instrumental in getting India off to solid starts, along with useful cameos from all-rounder Hardik Pandya in the lower middle-order, Iyer and Pant will need to get their act together in the remaining games to reduce the strain on the rest of the batting order.
As for the Proteas, they'll be sweating over Quinton de Kock's fitness, the wicketkeeper batter having missed out on the Cuttack and Vizag fixtures after his knock of 22 in Delhi. De Kock suffered a wrist injury just before the second T20I, which prompted the team leadership to draft Heinrich Klaasen into the XI — a move that worked wonders for them in the end.
De Kock's fitness
De Kock's return, likely in place of Reeza Hendricks, could help give South Africa a boost at the top of the order as they had not quite been getting off to ideal starts in the last two games.
While a slight tweak to the combination may be due, Proteas white-ball skipper Temba Bavuma insisted that it would be "foolish" of them to change their batting approach after just one defeat.
"First two overs we always have a look and then we try to get some momentum going into the innings and set it up for our big power players. That is a strategy that has worked for us and I would be a bit foolish to change our approach after just one loss," Bavuma said after the 48-run defeat in Visakhapatnam.
Aiden Markram, viewed as a key batting option for the Proteas before this series especially after his run with the Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 15, is set to return home after completing his quarantine, having contracted COVID-19 just before the first T20I.
Much like the series opener in Delhi, the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium at Rajkot is expected to be a belter of a surface that could witness batters from both sides make merry.
Squads:
India: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (C & WK), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, R Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (C), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Marco Jansen.
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