IND vs SA: 3RD T20 Preview – India Look To Seal The Series In Bengaluru

India wrapped up a comfortable win in Mohali. The target of 150 was chased down with breaking a sweat and the South African attack looked completely flat in trying to defend a modest total. The biggest issue for the visitors was their batting. Despite a good fifty by their captain de Kock, except for Temba Bavuma, none of the other batters came to the party. The Indian bowling though did a great job of pulling things back after a good start by South Africa.

For India, though Navdeep Saini and Deepak Chahar were good with the ball and former especially bowling with lots of fire. Hardik Pandya who was making a return to the Indian side started off little rusty at the start but finished strong with decent figures. The spinners did not have much to do in this game but Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja did okay by keeping the runs down in the middle overs.

The South African bowling though struggled on a wicket which offered a lot of pace and bounce for the fast men. The spinners even though picked up wickets were very inconsistent with their lengths. The wicket in Bengaluru is normally a flat one and the ground is small with short boundaries. Both teams might not make any major changes except for India bringing in a pacer or Wrist spinner for Krunal Pandya who did not have much to do in the Mohali game.

Virat Kohli (India): Virat Kohli looked in sublime touch during his match-winning 72* in the first game. He now has 2441 T20I runs which are now the highest tally in this format. He also averages over 50 which makes his record phenomenal. His form in shorter formats has been brilliant and he will once again be important on a wicket he knows quite well playing for RCB for years now.

Deepak Chahar (India): Deepak Chahar was excellent with the new ball against South Africa in Mohali and finished well at the death for a very good 2/22 in four overs. On a flat wicket his initial overs with the new ball will be crucial as getting early will be paramount at Bengaluru.

Quinton de Kock (South Africa): de Kock looked in brilliant form in the first T20I. His 52 was sublime but he will be disappointed not carrying on to a big one. He will try to do that in the second game as South Africa will need him to score big if they have to challenge India.

Kagiso Rabada (South Africa): Rabada struggled with the new ball and his length was all over the place against the Indian openers. Being the leader of the attack he will be required to guide the young bowlers and also nip out some quick wickets with the new ball if South Africa have to restrict the Indian batting line up.

“They’re a formidable team but I don’t think they’re not an unbeatable side. Like I said, with our batting it was just one phase where we let ourselves down. And a quality side like that would make us pay. So I think there’s always a moment in the game where we can win, and I think for us its more about being aware of those moments and making sure we’re in the right mental space to win those moments,”  Said Temba Bavuma after South Africa’s loss in Mohali.

“For senior players like us, say someone like Rishabh comes in to bat or Shreyas coming in, we make sure we do the communication with them and make sure they are comfortable and not nervous. We make them think what is needed at that particular moment,” Said Shikhar Dhawan about nurturing young players in the Indian set up

Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya/Khaleel Ahmed/Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini

Quinton de Kock (C & wk), Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Temba Bavuma, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorious, Bjorn Fortuin, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Anrich Nortje

India are 1-0 up and South Africa need to do all the running in this second game to try and square the series. The Bengaluru wicket is normally a good one to bat and that is probably what the South African batters need to get back into some sort of rhythm. The bowling attack of both sides seemed a little rusty in the first game but on this wicket the margin of error is low and the captains of both sides will be wary of that. India though once again will start as the favourites and it will be hard to get against them taking this series as well.