India look to seal T20 series

On a four-match winning streak, a confident India will be gunning for a second straight T20I series triumph when they take on a smarting South Africa here on Sunday.

Ever since they crashed out of the World Cup in England, the focus has shifted to next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia. In a bid to get the perfect squad, the management has decided to try out various youngsters and to the delight of captain Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri, most of the upstarts have grabbed their chances with both hands.

Fast bowlers Navdeep Saini and Deepak Chahar have excelled at the beginning and death, picking up wickets and being economical at the same time, making light of the absence of rested lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah.

Ravindra Jadeja, back in the limited-over scheme of things after being upstaged by wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal for a while, is playing with a new-found fire and determination, dishing out strong all-round shows — bowling, batting and fielding — consistently. Fellow left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya too has held his end of the bargain well while 20-year-old leg-spinner Rahul Chahar, touted as the one for the future, gave an ample demonstration of his skills in the lone T20I game he played against West Indies. The returning Washington Sundar too looks to be regaining his mojo.

Batting-wise, too, India have had few problems in the last four games. Senior pros Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli have been their usual consistent self while Shreyas Iyer has shown that he’s ready to take one of the middle-order slots with a couple of match-winning knocks.

The smooth ride isn’t without a few bumps though. The one big worrying factor for the management has been the form of Rishabh Pant. The hard-hitting youngster has been found guilty of throwing his wicket away quite easily that has elicited some strong reactions from the management.

To be fair to Pant, he’s just sticking to his guns of being an attacking batsman. The problem though has been shot selection, especially early on in the innings where he needs to give himself time to settle in before exploding. Barring the unbeaten 65 in the third T20I versus West Indies last month, he’s been dismissed for four single-digit scores in his last five innings. With pressure rising with every failure, the 21-year-old wicketkeeper will be eager to get a big one.

South Africa, going through a rebuilding phase after a disastrous World Cup, will be keen to snap India’s streak and share the series spoils. They made a good beginning in the Mohali game but the moment the pitch started to play slow, they lost momentum before being undone by the brilliance of Kohli. A win on Sunday will give them good confidence heading into the Test series that starts on October 2.

While a KSCA official expected a score in the vicinity of 170, both teams will be wary of the pitch that could be challenging. Although the compact ground makes big-hitting easy, the Chinnaswamy pitch is no flatbed anymore and bowlers have enjoyed their outings here.

An eye will be on the weather with rain forecast for Sunday evening. A game has already been washed out in the series and both teams will be hoping for a dry spell to enjoy some action.

The squads: India: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini.

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (capt), Rassie van der Dussen (vice-capt), Temba Bavuma, Junior Dala, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, George Linde.