IND vs SA: Follow India vs South Africa live updates – After the conclusion of the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the attention of cricket fans will shift to the upcoming five-match T20I series between India and South Africa. With the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup knocking on the door, the men in blue will be looking to find three major positives from this series. Follow IND vs SA live updates, India vs South Africa LIVE updates on InsideSport.IN
With many star players being rested by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), skipper KL Rahul and coach Rahul Dravid will look to zero in on their squad while offering a chance to newbies to showcase their skills.
IND vs SA: Team India eye 3 BIG POSITIVES from T20I series against South Africa ahead of 2022 ICC T20 World Cup – Check OUT
Check out 3 positives India will look to achieve from this series:
- New pace spearheads – Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh
With no Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami for this series, India have brought in tearaway right-arm quick Umran Malik and left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh. Amongst the uncapped Indian pacers who made a splash in IPL 2022, Malik and Singh earned their maiden T20I squad call-ups.
There is an element of excitement in what the young pace duo brings to the table. Malik, 22, has sheer pace, consistently clocking speeds above 150kph and was used as a middle-overs enforcer by Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2022, picking 19 wickets in that phase, something which the Indian management have taken note of.
At the other end, Singh might not be as quick as Malik, but he is a superb death bowler. His death-overs economy rate of 7.58 in IPL 2022, which is second-best in the tournament after Bumrah’s 7.38, shows.
IND vs SA: Team India eye 3 BIG POSITIVES from T20I series against South Africa ahead of 2022 ICC T20 World Cup – Check OUT
2. The second coming of Dinesh Karthik
After earning a recall to India’s T20I squad, veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik had described his return to the national side in the shortest format of the game as ‘most special comeback’.
In IPL 2022, Karthik grabbed the eyeballs of fans and national selectors as a specialist finisher for Royal Challengers Bangalore, making 242 runs at a strike rate of 220 in the death-overs phase.
In this series, BCCI will be looking to find a new finisher in Dinesh Karthik, but it also has to be noted that he will be directly fighting for a slot with the IPL 2022-winning skipper, Hardik Pandya. Should Karthik get a fair run against South Africa, it would be a prime chance for him to show the team management his finishing skills and get himself ahead in the race for finishers.
IND vs SA: Team India eye 3 BIG POSITIVES from T20I series against South Africa ahead of 2022 ICC T20 World Cup – Check OUT
3. Lefties Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant and Venkatesh Iyer to find their form back
In a batting order where Rahul, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas and Deepak Hooda had decent IPL 2022 seasons with the bat, India would be hoping that the southpaws find their groove and deliver the goods against South Africa.
India has three left-handed batting options in Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant and Venkatesh Iyer, but neither looked convincing in IPL 2022. Ishan scored 418 runs at an average of 32.15, which is not satisfactory given the standard he has set for himself.
Venkatesh Iyer was hit by the second-season syndrome, making just 182 runs at an average of just 16.55. Rishabh Pant didn’t get anything beyond a fifty in his returns of 340 runs at an average of 30.91.
IND vs SA: Team India eye 3 BIG POSITIVES from T20I series against South Africa ahead of 2022 ICC T20 World Cup – Check OUT
Editors pick
