 "India vs South Africa: Five things Suryakumar Yadav-led Men in Blue will be targeting in upcoming T20s")
A little over four months since that nerve-wracking T20 World Cup final in Barbados, India and South Africa are set to meet in the shortest format once again. A lot was at stake in that epic encounter at the iconic Kensington Oval in Bridgetown – the Men in Blue had not won an ICC event for more than a decade, while the Proteas had finally made it to the final of an ODI or a T20 World Cup after years of heartbreak.
In a match that swung wildly from one team to another, from Virat Kohli’s 59-ball 76 helping India recover from a mini-collapse and set South Africa a competitive target to Heinrich Klaasen nearly making a mockery of said target with an explosive 27-ball 52.
In the end, it was incredible death-bowling on the part of the Jasprit Bumrah-led attack as well as a catch for the ages by Suryakumar Yadav at the edge of the long off boundary that sealed a second T20 world title for the Men in Blue .
Revenge might certainly be on the Aiden Markram-led South African team’s mind when they face India in the first of four T20Is in Durban on Friday.
IND vs SA, 1st T20I | Match timings, venue and everything else you need to know
Both teams, however, will also have an eye on the future, especially the Men in Blue given they’re going through a period of transition following the T20I retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after the World Cup triumph.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsHere are five things India will be targeting in the upcoming series:
Extending their dominant T20 record against SA
India enjoy a 15-11 lead over South Africa in 27 meetings in the shortest format. That record becomes even more one-sided in favour of the Men in Blue when it comes to matches played in South Africa – India lead 6-3 in 9 meetings, including the one-off fixture at the Wanderers in 2006, which was India’s debut in the 20-over format.
India are yet to lose a T20I series in South Africa comprising three or more matches, and Surya and Co would very much like to keep that record intact.
Testing Ramandeep as a middle-order option
The Indian contingent in South Africa comprises a handful of uncapped players and among them is Punjab batter Ramandeep Singh, who had an IPL season to remember this year as he struck 125 runs at a strike rate of 201.61 for Kolkata Knight Riders, playing a small but significant role in helping them win the title.
WHAT DID YOU JUST DO RAMANDEEP! 🤯
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) October 19, 2024
A stunning catch from Ramandeep Singh gets rid of the dangerous Yasir Khan! 👋
📺 Watch 👉 #EmergingAsiaCupOnStar | #INDvPAK, LIVE NOW! pic.twitter.com/EyyDkEbsM7
Ramandeep would not only carry that red-hot batting form over to the Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Oman last month, he would also pull off one of the most memorable catches during the match against arch-rivals Pakistan to highlight his brilliant fielding skills.
Captain Surya and interim head coach VVS Laxman would certainly love to see where and how Ramandeep fits in the Indian middle order.
Trying out Vyshak and Dayal
Pacers Vijaykumar Vyshak and Yash Dayal are the other uncapped members of the Indian squad for this series. In the absence of senior players such as Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj – who are in Australia for the Test series – as well as Mohammed Shami, who is yet to recover from an ankle injury, India is likely to hand debuts to at least one of them if not both in this series.
While Dayal is yet to get his maiden India cap despite having been included in the squad for the Bangladesh Tests, Karnataka pacer Vyshak received his maiden call-up into the national team after being picked for the South Africa tour.
Also Read | Kumble on why India should debut Dayal, Vyshak and Ramandeep
Uttar Pradesh quick Dayal will essentially be left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh’s back-up and might even compete with him later for a spot while Vyshak will be hoping to prove himself as a handy bowler for all situations.
Giving the wicketkeeper’s slot to Jitesh?
Sanju Samson had kept the wickets during the T20I series against Bangladesh, in which he struck a whirlwind century in Hyderabad that nearly helped the Men in Blue smash the world record for the highest team total in the format.
The Indian team management, however, could look at playing him purely as an opener this time while slotting Punjab Kings wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma, who had last featured in the T20I series against Afghanistan in January, as a handy middle-order option who can also act as a finisher.
Rishabh Pant has not played T20Is since the tour of Sri Lanka, and this series could be an ideal opportunity to test Jitesh even further.
All eyes on auction table?
The T20I series against South Africa will be taking place right before the IPL team owners arrive in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for the IPL 2025 mega auction. Four members of the squad – wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma and the pace trio of Arshdeep, Vyshak and Avesh Khan – were not retained by their respective IPL teams.
Arshdeep will likely be triggering a bidding war, with Punjab Kings likely to use a Right To Match (RTM) card on him, the others will be doing their best to ensure they impress the franchise owners enough to be part of the action next year.
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