Back & fourth: Pant reshuffle on the cards
BENGALURU: India’s top three batsmen will continue to leave the worrying to South Africa’s bowling attack while the hosts themselves could effect a minor tweak by promoting the dependable Shreyas Iyer in the final game of the three-match T20 series at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday.
Though India have opted for a relatively inexperienced bowling attack for this series as they build up for next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia, there were no hiccups in notching up a seven-wicket victory at Mohali in the second game after restricting South Africa to a modest score.
The first contest of the threematch series in Dharamsala was washed out.
South Africa’s hopes of squaring the series will lie on bringing India’s young bowlers under pressure at a venue that favours batsmen. For India though, Iyer’s current form assures stability in the middle order.
With pressure building on Rishabh Pant after another cheap dismissal in Mohali batting at No 4, the two could be asked to swap batting spots on Sunday.
“They probably are the best three T20 batters the world has ever seen. Virat and Rohit are two leading run-scorers in the world. It is a great challenge for our young bowlers to bowl to these guys.
“Under the new coach Enoch Nkwe the emphasis has been on … we have got a young squad, but we are coming here to win and compete. We are not going to stand back for anyone. We knew India is one of the strongest teams in the world. We have got one more chance to level the series here,” he said.