CAPTAIN Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma’s decision to play an anchor role instead of going for big strokes will be tested when India take on South Africa in their opening Super Eight match of the T20 World Cup on Sunday.
South Africa have a bowling attack that includes Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj and Aiden Markram. India will be aware of the challenge.
This will be the sixth meeting between the two teams in the last two months. It remains to be seen which side benefits more from the familiarity.
India were not pushed much in the group stage, but their batting has raised questions.
Opener Ishan Kishan has scored two fifties with a strike rate of 202. The other three batters in the top four have not made major contributions so far.
Abhishek Sharma has three ducks in the tournament. Suryakumar and Tilak have spoken about playing an anchor role, but both have struggled on tracks where the ball has gripped.
Hardik Pandya, with a strike rate of 155, and Shivam Dube, with a strike rate of 178, have provided runs in the later overs.
Abhishek has fallen to off-spinners twice in a row. It remains to be seen if Markram introduces off-breaks during the Powerplay.
Tilak’s scores in the group stage were 25 off 24 balls against Pakistan, 25 off 21 against Namibia and 31 off 27 against the Netherlands. His strike rate in the tournament is just above 120, compared to his career strike rate of 141.
Suryakumar scored 84 not out off 49 balls against the USA, whose attack was without two bowlers due to hamstring strain. Apart from that innings, he has not made major scores against Pakistan or the Netherlands. His tournament strike rate of 136 plus is lower than his career strike rate of 163 plus.
India play with eight batters and look to score freely irrespective of opposition and conditions. Having two batters unable to score quickly on slower surfaces could be a concern.
In T20 World Cup matches, teams often need to take risks.
India have shown that they can reach near 200 runs even on average days. The bowling unit has been a key factor, with Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy bowling eight of the 20 overs.
In the group stage, none of the four teams, including Pakistan, handled the duo effectively. Chakravarthy has taken nine wickets in four games at an economy rate of 5.16. Bumrah has conceded six runs per over in his three matches.
South Africa’s top seven includes Quinton de Kock, Markram, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton, David Miller and Marco Jansen. India’s bowlers will need to perform against this line-up.
The match against South Africa will indicate how India’s campaign may progress in the later stage of the tournament.
India are expected to include Kuldeep Yadav in place of Arshdeep Singh. Axar Patel is set to return after one match to replace Washington Sundar.
For South Africa, Jansen, Ngidi and Maharaj are set to return after being rested against the UAE.
Squads:
India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Sanju Samson (wk), Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh.
South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Keshav Maharaj, Corbin Bosch, Anrich Nortje, Kwena Maphaka, George Linde, Jason Smith.
