'Won't be expecting anything easy, not thinking things will go the way they did in South Africa' - Temba Bavuma ahead of India T20Is

The Indian team will host South Africa for a five-match T20I series commencing from 9th June. The South African skipper Temba Bavuma has revealed that the current pace battery of the Indian team has made them rethink their plans ahead of their tour.

The Proteas will be facing a much-changed Indian side to the one that visited the rainbow nation. The Indian side, which is without the services of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, faced a major blow earlier when captain KL Rahul was ruled out of the series along with Kuldeep Yadav on June 8.

Rishabh Pant will now lead the side in the absence of Injured Rahul while Gujarat Titans’ skipper Hardik Pandya will deputise for Pant. The Indian team will be introducing some fresh faces in the form of Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh in the series. Umran caught the attention of the entire cricketing world with his blistering pace in IPL 2022 which rattled world-class batters. Avesh Khan is another one of the pace bowlers who will take charge of things in the absence of experienced campaigners like Bumrah and Shami.

In the lead-up to the series opener in New Delhi, Bavuma revealed that they made some changes to their plans and are prepared to tackle India’s fast bowlers along with their quality spinners.

“It has definitely changed our preparation, they have got their quick bowlers and their spinners as well. In terms of preparation, the focus has not just been on the spin but also to make sure that we cover our bases from a fast bowling point of view,” Bavuma told reporters.

It’s an exciting series for both India and South Africa

The South African skipper also recalled their side’s victory against India earlier this year in South Africa. The diminutive batter emphasised that many new players will be motivated to do well to establish themselves in the Indian team. The skipper expects this to be a difficult challenge for his team and an exciting series for both teams.

“It’s an exciting series for both India and South Africa. This is a different-looking guy — a lot of younger, fresher faces within their team. Guys who have a big point to prove, guys who want to stake a claim for their position within the Indian team. We won’t be expecting anything easy, we are not thinking that everything is going to happen the same way as it happened in South Africa,” Bavuma added.

The series opener will take place in the scorching heat of the Delhi summer at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on June 9.