Cuttack, Pretr. Ind vs SA 2nd T20I: Umran Malik or Arshdeep Singh will get a chance on India’s return to the series in Cuttack. Captain Rishabh Pant will look to improve upon the Indian bowlers in their attempt to make a comeback against a stellar South Africa in the second T20I of the five-match series on Sunday. After being given the responsibility of captaincy suddenly, Pant suffered a loss in the first match in which David Miller and Rasie van der Dussen chased down a tough target of 212 runs without any trouble to give their team a 1-0 lead in the series. Gave it.
Pant under pressure
The IPL was also not so good for Captain Pant, in which he could not take his franchise Delhi Capitals to the playoffs. The graph of Pant’s claim being seen on the future white-ball captain has suddenly come down after the IPL. Along with this, he performed better under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya and showed great performance under his leadership, giving Gujarat Titans the title in the debut season. Pandya, who returned fully fit, impressed with his form as well as his captaincy. In view of this, Pandya’s name continues to rise for India’s next white-ball captain while Pant will be reviewed again during his return.
Also Read: Why Hardik Pandya can prove to be a game changer for India in T20 format, says Sunil Gavaskar
Less bowling to Chahal: It is too early to say anything about Pant’s captaincy, but he appeared under pressure in his captaincy debut. He also bowled short to IPL’s ‘Purple Cap’ winner Yuzvendra Singh Chahal while he is coming with 27 wickets for runners-up Rajasthan Royals. In the first T20, this spinner bowled only 2.1 overs.
The bowling department has increased the problem:
As far as Pandya is concerned, he achieved historic success with Gujarat Titans. Pandya played the last match for India in the 2021 T20 World Cup in November last year. In which he scored an unbeaten 31 in 12 balls to cross 200 runs. But he was not able to impress in the bowling in which he conceded 18 runs in his only over. The biggest headache for Pant will be the bowling department. In which he will have to decide between Arshdeep and pacer Umran Malik. It looks ‘perfect’ as far as the batting is concerned. But the new looking fast bowling department looked flat in the first match of the series. Senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar did not show the old pace as he conceded runs in the final overs. While Harshal Patel was also hit by the batsmen. Young Avesh Khan also failed to impress, though he was the most ‘economical’ of the trio.
Best Arshdeep and Malik pairing on the net:
The duo of Arshdeep and Malik have been working tirelessly to impress with their quickness. And accuracy in the nets, giving rise to the possibility that one of them may be given a chance to make his debut on Sunday. It will not be an easy task as one more defeat will mean that the Pant-led side will have to win three matches in a row to win the series. Which will turn out to be very difficult.
African team in rhythm:
After the success of individual players in the IPL, the South African team is now getting into the rhythm. Miller is in scintillating form in his career. Scoring 484 runs in the IPL and playing a key role in Gujarat Titans’ victory. He started the series on the same lines and in the first T20. He looked dangerous against spin and fast bowlers. Quinton de Kock could not convert his start into a big innings but the batsman had scored 508 runs in IPL for Lucknow Supergiants. And would like to continue the same form here. Van der Dussen also has a good strike rate, making the trio the backbone of the South African batting. While Kagiso Rabada and Enrique Notrej will look to stop the Indian batsmen from scoring more runs.
