Image Credit- AFP
Captain Suryakumar Yadav, who is leading the Hardik
Pandya-less team in South Africa, acknowledged that the series victory over
Australia gave the Men in Blue a significant lift going into their tour to the
rainbow nation. The captain of India stated that the team that amassed a
perfect 10 in the run-up to the ICC event in India was disappointed by the
heartbreaking loss to Australia in the World Cup final. After suffering yet
another heartbreaking loss in the ICC, India has arrived in the rainbow nation
for a multi-format series against the hosts, South Africa.
In addition to lacking veteran players Virat Kohli and
Jasprit Bumrah heading into the T20 World Cup, India will be missing captain
Rohit Sharma for the white-ball portion of their tour to South Africa. But the
visitors are fortunate to have match-winning players in Rinku Singh and Tilak
Varma, as well as well-known players in Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan
Kishan, and captain Suryakumar. Pacer Arshdeep Singh is also a part of the
three-match series; in their most recent Twenty20 International match, India
defeated Australia with great success thanks to his heroics in the final over.
On Sunday at Kingsmead in Durban, hosts South Africa
will take on Team India in the Twenty20 International series. In the last 19
Twenty20 Internationals played at this location, the team batting first has won
eight and the team pursuing has won the same amount of games. During the 2007
T20 World Cup, India and Pakistan notably played a drawn game in Kingsmead,
although two of the games had been washed out. India’s captain, Suryakumar,
stated unequivocally during the pre-match press conference that his team
“has the combination in mind.”
India have “enough sixth bowler options in this
side to bank upon,” according to the 32-year-old. Ishan Kishan, who is
anticipated to play and keep wickets against South Africa on Sunday, was rested
by India in the last match. Shubman Gill, the opening batsman for all formats,
will be replaced by either Ruturaj Gaikwad or Yashasvi Jaiswal. Leading the way
for the Suryakumar-starring middle order is Shreyas Iyer, who proved crucial
for India in their most recent Twenty20 International match.
As the sole all-rounder in India’s playing XI, vice
skipper Ravindra Jadeja will take on the job of finisher. Rinku Singh will take
on this position. The match between spin guru Kuldeep Yadav and top-ranked T20I
bowler Ravi Bishnoi will also be decided by a toss-up. In India, Bishnoi won
Player of the Series in the match against Australia. In the first game of the
series against South Africa, pacer Mohammed Siraj and pacer Arshdeep will have
the company of either Deepak Chahar or Mukesh Kumar.