India tour of South Africa 2018 – Analysis of the T20I squad

The Indian cricket team announced their squad last week for the Twenty20 International (T20I) series against South Africa. Virat Kohli’s men play a three-match T20I series against the Proteas starting February 18. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selected a 16-member squad and there were not many surprises in store given India’s recent achievements in the limited-overs format.

The only striking feature was the return of veteran Suresh Raina, who makes a comeback after featuring last against England in Bengaluru on February 1, 2017. Raina, who was retained by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the 11th season of Indian Premier League (IPL), scored 314 runs in nine innings in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament recently. It also included a 49-ball century against Bengal.

Just like the ODI squad, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were not selected once again with the focus lying on the young wrist spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. Meanwhile, IPL’s new ‘Million Dollar Man’ Jaydev Unadkat made the cut alongside pacers Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah.

Here is an analysis of the squad for the T20I series addressing the key aspects.

Strengths

The return of Raina is a big boost after being ignored for the series’ against the likes of Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. His form in the domestic T20s was a stepping stone for his return as he adds vitality in the middle order with bags of experience.

The opening combination of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma is expected to give India a sparkling start. Also, Shikhar Dhawan is there in the side as the alternative option atop. Rohit has been in tremendous form in the shorter formats and will hope to tick the right boxes and so will Rahul. Virat at No. 3 is India’s best bet to get a solid platform.

The middle order looks interesting too with Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the line-up. Dhoni was promoted in the T20I series versus Sri Lanka in 2017 and Kohli could be eager to continue Rohit’s decision and send the veteran at No. 4. With Raina, Manish Pandey and Hardik Pandya there too, India will be looking upto the trio to provide the finishing touch.

The pace attack also has the required experience in Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah who are widely regarded as two of the best white ball bowlers.

Weaknesses

Dhawan hasn’t been in the best of touch in T20Is and will hope to play well in the ODIs to get his confidence back. The southpaw was dropped in favour of Rahul against the Lankans and an injury to either Rohit or the latter could earn Dhawan time in the middle.

The lack of experience for Unadkat and Thakur in overseas conditions will be a determinant the team will have to deal. With no Umesh Yadav in the reckoning, it will be interesting to see how the duo provide back-up to Bumrah and Bhuvi.

India have gone in with just four full pacers and Thakur’s selection doesn’t look the most justified. He is yet to play a T20Is for India and his recent form for Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was good but international cricket is a completely different ball game and we are talking about South Africa.

Meanwhile, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav have impressed massively in the sub-continent, but they lack experience in difficult conditions for spinners. If the pitches continue to be assistive for the pacers, either one of them will make it into the team and if the recent trend is anything to go by Chahal it will be.

Opportunities await for key players

It is a huge opportunity for some of the members of this young and vibrant team to show if they can handle the pressure of performing overseas and excel. That’s where the likes of Chahal and Kuldeep comes into play especially after enjoying tremendous success at home. They could go on to show that India can play overseas without Ashwin and Jadeja with the ICC T20I World Cup next year.

Dinesh Karthik too is in the side and has the experience of playing in South Africa. Thought that was a long time ago, his exploits in the inaugural T20 World Cup would have given him enough idea on what to expect in that part of the world. Therefore there will be a big fight for a slot in middle order with Manish Pandey.

All eyes will be on Unadkat though as he will be presented with the chance to show why the Rajasthan Royals broke their bank to land him in the IPL. The left-armer will be the third pacer and has been quite impressive in the 4 T20Is, he has played thus far.

Threats

Unlike the Test format, the historical record in T20Is gives the Indian team’s side an edge over the Proteas. The Men in Blue have played 10 T20Is against South Africa in their backyard and won 6 whereas 4 times results went against them.

They also played the first ever T20I contest against the same team back in 2006. Since then, have continued the dominance. India also won the World T20 hosted in South Africa in 2007 but things aren’t the same since then. This Proteas side plays some fearless cricket and in their last duel that was in India, they beat the home team comprehensively.

Team India, on the other hand, hasn’t been at their best in T20 cricket, though they have the names the performance hasn’t quite been at par. The South African batsmen are absolutely brutal in this format of the game and their bowlers have evolved over the years to give away absolutely nothing. It will be interesting to see how Virat & Co. deal with this challenge.

Here is the Indian squad for the T20I series against South Africa: