On a high after the demolition of South Africa in the One-day Internationals, an upbeat India will be aiming to tighten the noose around the beleagured hosts when they square off in a three-match Twenty International series, starting at Johannesburg on Sunday.
Having created history by thrashing South Africa 5-1, Virat Kohli and Co will be looking to carry the same momentum and intensity going into the shortest format. Veteran Suresh Raina is under the spotlight as he makes a comeback into the national team after a year.
The defeat in the Test series remains a distant memory and India will begin as overwhelming favourites with spin twins Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal tipped torment the opposition all over again.
India have fond memories of playing T20 cricket on South African soil as they won their first ever match in the shortest format in the Rainbow Nation back in 2006. This was followed by their famous World T20 triumph under MS Dhoni a year later. Since the 2017 Champions Trophy, India have played 10 T20Is, winning seven of those matches. As such, they have a stable formula to fall back on in the format.
Raina, KL Rahul and Jaydev Unadkat are the new additions to the Indian contingent in the squad. The trio had a two-hour net session at Centurion on Friday, just before the start of the sixth ODI. There is also an optional practice session scheduled on Saturday at the Wanderers.
Will it be Raina or Iyer?
In their last T20 engagement at home against Sri Lanka, Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were two key players who were rested. In their absence, the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj and Washington Sundar were able to get an outing on the international stage. Among the trio, only Iyer has made it to the current squad and it remains to be seen if he is included in the playing XI.
The young batsman has had starts in the two ODIs he played at Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth – scoring 18 and 30. His composure was more impressive than his run-tally though, never mind the dropped catches. Yet, he might lose out to the returning Raina, who is a particularly handy all-rounder in this format.
Raina’s return is the most intriguing aspect of the series from an Indian point of view. He hasn’t played ODI cricket since 2015, and last featured in a T20I series twelve months ago against England. He scored 104 runs in three matches, inclusive of a half-century, but didn’t bowl enough overs.
It did fuel aspirations of a possible return to the ODI set-up with the Champions Trophy in sight, but the selectors ignored him despite scoring 442 runs in the 2017 Indian Premier League for the Gujarat Lions.
His continued absence from the T20I set-up during the 2017-’18 home season raised eyebrows, but it was revealed that he had missed the now obligatory yo-yo fitness test and hence missed out on selection.
He cleared that test in December and finished sixth in the runs’ chart (314 runs in 9 matches inclusive of one hundred and two half-centuries) for Uttar Pradesh during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
It is easy to assume that Raina will walk back into the playing XI and his performances will be keenly noted, given that India will also play a T20I tri-series in Sri Lanka later in March.
It could be a pathway for Raina to get back into reckoning for the 2019 World Cup as the Indian team management continues to look for all-round options who can slot into the middle order, especially at No 4 batsman.
Unadkat, another comeback man
Unadkat is the other player to watch out for. Since New Zealand’s trip in October, India have featured a left-arm pacer in their T20 side in four out of six matches. After Ashish Nehra retired, Unadkat was called up when Kumar was rested for Sri Lanka.
With the tag of being the highest paid Indian player (Rajasthan Royals splashed out Rs 11.5 crore) at this year’s IPL auction, and 24 wickets in the last edition, Unadkat may turn out to be India’s trump card.
He has enjoyed a resurrection of sorts since then, and it will be interesting to see what is India’s first-choice pace attack with all three – Unadkat, Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah – available for selection. Shardul Thakur, who picked a career-best 4/52 in the sixth ODI, cannot be ignored either.
Hardik Pandya and the two wrist-spinners are a virtual certainty in the playing XI. Regarding the batting line-up, the only question mark is over Rahul’s inclusion.
Squad
India: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur.
South Africa: JP Duminy (c), Farhaan Behardien, Junior Dala, AB de Villiers, Reeza Hendricks, Christiaan Jonker, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Chris Morris, Dane Paterson, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Jon-Jon Smuts.
(With inputs from PTI)