South Africa vs India, T20I Series 2018: Combined XI of the Series

4. Suresh Raina

When the series commenced, all eyes were on the comeback man for team India – Suresh Raina. Raina showed bright spark with a big six in the first game. However, he failed to get going. In the second match, he batted well for his 30 runs. In the final match, Raina looked in sublime touch with brilliant 43 to his name. Also, he was a live wire on the field. Furthermore, he was used as a bowler in the final game which paid rich dividends in the match for the team.

5. Heinrich Klaasen

Heinrich Klaasen has been the find of the series for South Africa. Klaasen’s quick knock of 69 had helped South Africa win the second T20I with utmost ease. It is worth noting that Klaasen was the Player of the Match in the only ODI that the Proteas camp had won in the ODI series.

In Klaasen, South Africa have certainly found a very good backup for Quinton de Kock. He, however, failed to finish things on a high for his team though. The stage was set for him to launch in Cape Town, but he ended up perishing cheaply.

6. Manish Pandey

Manish Pandey warmed the bench for team India in the ODI series. Pandey found a place in the playing eleven in the T20Is though. He found himself in the role of the finisher in the side. In the first game, Pandey scored a decent unbeaten 29 off 27 balls.

In the next game, he managed to up his game a lot more. He scored an unbeaten 79 off 48 balls in the Centurion T20I. In the final T20I, Pandey failed to contribute much with the bat. But he did hit a big maximum to keep his fans interested.

7. MS Dhoni

Veteran Indian cricketer MS Dhoni had arrived in to the series being under immense pressure. His failure to finish games for the Indian side in the ODI series had disappointed many. In the first T20I, Dhoni scored a decent 16 towards the end overs.

But his best came in the second match where he played an unbeaten knock of 52 runs in just 28 balls. Behind the stumps, Dhoni’s work was unmatched and he breached quite a few wicketkeeping records in the series as well. He became the most successful keeper in the shortest format of the game at the highest level.