India eye rare home series win over South Africa in second T20I match
GUWAHATI: With mystery still surrounding the availability of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah for the Men’s T20 World Cup, India would be looking to put that on the backburner and try to get a rare series win (and also the first time) over South Africa at home when the second T20I gets under way at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday.
The ongoing series against South Africa was supposed to fine-tune India’s plans for the T20 World Cup. But with uncertainty over Bumrah’s fitness, especially ater Mohammed Siraj was called over as his replacement for the remainder of T20IS against the Proteas, there are more worries on what will India’s ideal pace combination be.
With Mohammed Shami on path to recovery ater testing positive for Covid-19, Siraj and Umesh Yadav are in the squad against South Africa though the duo are far off from coming into World Cup scheme of things.
In a scenario like this, the performances of Deepak Chahar and Arshdeep Singh must have soothed some tension in the Indian camp on pace bowling front.
Though India are rarely to be greeted by a green top in Australia during the World Cup, Chahar and Arshdeep were impressive in their dismantling of South Africa with the new ball, reducing the side to 9/5 inside three overs and deciding the result of the game there itself.
Harshal Patel also had some wickets against his name and India will be hoping he gets more scalps in coming matches.
With Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin at their economical best, India would also want for their top four to put in a collective performance* ahead of departure for the World Cup. What India would be seeking is more bating chances for Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant, someone who hasn’t got any bating chance at all since Asia Cup in the UAE.
South Africa, on the other hand, would be itching to bounce back ater the top-order meltdown and bowlers being unable to take out half-centurions KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav ater dismissing Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli cheaply.
The Proteas would be aiming to keep their undefeated record in India intact, but they will be requiring collective performances from all departments to avoid conceding the series to India.
Meanwhile, India head coach Rahul Dravid on Saturday said that injured Bumrah is in National Cricket Academy (NCA) and the team management is waiting for official confirmation on the next steps, adding that till the time pacer is not officially ruled out of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, they will always be hopeful.
The 28-year-old pacer has been ruled out of the ongoing T20I series against South Africa with a back injury which has cast doubt over his participation in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.
Unfortunately, ahead of the first T20I against South Africa, BCCI provided an update that Bumrah complained of back pain during the practice session on Tuesday, thus ruling him out of the first T20I and eventually the series.
“As of now, officially he has been ruled out of the T20 series against South Africa. He has gone to the NCA and we are waiting for an official confirmation on the next steps,” said Dravid about Bumrah in the press conference ahead of the second T20I.
“As of now, officially he is only ruled out of this series, and we will see what happens in the next 2-3 days but once we get an official confirmation, then we will be able to share that,” he added.
Quizzed further on the nature of Bumrah’s injury, Dravid said he doesn’t go deeply into the medical reports and relies on the experts.
“I don’t go deeply into the medical reports, I rely on the experts to tell me what it is,” the coach said. “They ruled him out of this series and he is being assessed. You will know in due course what happens in the future. Till the time he is not officially ruled out, we will always be hopeful and we will hope for the best,” he added.