Barely ten days after the end of the 74-game Indian Premier League, India are set to face South Africa at home, with the first of five T20Is to be played in Delhi on Thursday. Starting from this series, the Indians are expected to play more than 20 T20Is in the run-up to the 2022 T20 World Cup in October.
The national squad has reassembled after a gap of close to three months, and with several regulars – captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami – given a breather following a gruelling summer of franchise T20, the South Africa contest is a golden opportunity for some to push their cases to be on the plane to Australia for the global event.
At the same time, it is a chance for the team management under head coach Rahul Dravid to firm up their plans for Australia and seek to plug the remaining holes in the squad.
Further, the last-minute injuries to stand-in captain KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav have made this series truly one for the bench to flex its muscles.
A different beginning
Reams have been written about the ‘sameness’ in the first-choice Indian top order of Rohit, Kohli and Rahul, and how that has the potential to hurt India, especially when they are setting a target. Against South Africa, now that Rahul is also out, India will likely be opening with Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan.
Now Gaikwad is probably in the same mould as the established lead trio, in that he needs a few deliveries to get going. So in that way, India will have some stability at the top from one end.
The more interesting trial will be Kishan’s. The left-hander had a largely disappointing IPL; he did make some runs, but they came at a strike-rate around 120; he tended to get stuck, and would then remain stuck until he got out. Kishan ends up trying too hard in these situations, and that didn’t work in this IPL. In Rahul’s absence, perhaps an assured run upfront will free him up to show just how much destruction he is capable of amid field restrictions. Remember that he was the back-up opener in the previous T20 World Cup in the UAE, and India could certainly do with some more firepower in the first six overs.
The middle berth
With Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik making comebacks, the middle order is getting more and more crowded. Given that, the absence of Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav presents yet another opening for the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Deepak Hooda.
Iyer had a fantastic series against Sri Lanka with three successive unbeaten half-centuries, but he is another one who needs some time at the start of his innings. Also, his go-to shot under pressure is to back away from the stumps and have a crack at the upper cut or the heave over cover, and bowlers have exploited that with fuller deliveries targetting the stumps in the IPL. He will presumably get a decent run in the upper middle order, although that is not where he will get to bat when the regulars return.
Known more for his power game, Hooda has shown the ability to construct an innings after a top-order collapse in the IPL and his part-time off-spin has always been useful. But how much game time he gets has to be seen, as India look set to welcome back Pandya and Karthik.
The finishers
This is arguably the most critical component of India’s T20 World Cup puzzle. Karthik’s IPL fireworks have meant yet another international comeback, at the age of 37 this time. The incredible combination of talent and dedication that he is, Karthik has retooled his game in his late thirties to get India interested in his finishing skills. The key question is, of course, whether his IPL form will translate into international success. Karthik’s India white-ball record remains ordinary, although he is in a completely different role with the bat now. If India do squeeze him in, they might have to sacrifice a specialist batter, unless they are confident enough to play Pandya as the fifth bowler.
The Gujarat Titans’ victorious skipper being handed the India vice-captaincy after Rahul’s injury is a huge acknowledgment of Pandya’s growth as a leader in this IPL. But as coach Dravid said, what India are more interested in is Pandya the all-rounder. How many overs can he give regularly without the risk of him breaking down reaching unmanageable proportions? As far as batting goes, India have hinted they will continue to use Pandya more as a finisher, despite his brand-new role of providing middle-order stability for Gujarat Titans. How Pandya re-adjusts to the death-over role will be watched in this series. Meanwhile, where the return of the seniors leaves Venkatesh Iyer is anybody’s guess.
Bowling tryouts
Led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal, the bowling appears a bit more settled. The death-over specialist Harshal Patel is around too. Avesh Khan gets another chance to keep his nose in front of the second tier, as Shardul Thakur is not in the squad. The excitement here will centre around whether young Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh get a go; Dravid has weighed in for more game time for the established ones instead. On the spin front, this is Axar Patel’s opportunity to decrease the gap between him and Ravindra Jadeja.
Captain, oh captain
Rishabh Pant has been named skipper in place of Rahul. He has never led India before, although he leads Delhi Capitals in the IPL and has already endured a season of leading the Delhi first-class team with all the off-field pressures and turf battles that job comes with. That season, 2017-18, was the last time Delhi made the Ranji Trophy final, but Pant’s batting suffered.
He’s been hesitant at times as captain in the IPL, be it going for Decision Review System (DRS) calls or field changes or even high catches. The freedom in his batting can also get fettered. What version of Pant will turn up against South Africa? It could have a bearing on India’s T20 World Cup plans if his maiden captaincy stint turns out to be a dud with the bat, and Kishan and Karthik, both specialist keepers as well, happen to grab the initiative. Pant’s T20I strike-rate is just 125.78 compared to a career T20 figure of 146.31. Rahul’s injury could arguably have not come at a worse time for Pant. But the South Africa series could still end up providing India with plenty of cues for their T20 World Cup preparations.
India squad for South Africa T20Is
Rishabh Pant (captain) (wk), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.
