Rohit Sharma-led India look to address death bowling concerns in final tune-up ahead of T20 WC

Thiruvananthapuram, Sept 27

India will be looking to round off their T20 World Cup preparation with a marked improvement in their death bowling, besides providing crucial game-time to untested players in the three-match T20I series against South Africa, which starts here tomorrow.

I won’t be harsh on bowlers as they have been able to push the match till last over, every time, when we are looking to defend. It’s one ball here and there but of course we are doing pretty well but hopefully we will get better — Vikram Rathour, India Batting Coach

As expected, India skipper Rohit Sharma singled out death bowling as an area that requires improvement following the series win over Australia.

The hosts will be without two of their key bowlers — Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar — who have been rested ahead of the global T20 marquee event, to be played in Australia in October-November.

Mohammed Shami, who is one of the World Cup reserves, is yet to recover from Covid and will be missing the three games against the Proteas.

Harshal Patel, considered a death overs specialist, did not have the best of comebacks against Australia and will look to atone for his mistakes. His career economy rate stands at 9.05 but he conceded more than 12 runs per over against the Aussies.

Deepak Chahar did not get a game in the previous series and could get a chance if the team decides to rotate its pacers. However, Arshdeep Singh will return to bolster the team’s resources in the slog overs, making an effective combination alongside Jasprit Bumrah, who will be aiming to get into rhythm after coming back from an injury.

In the series-decider against Australia, Yuzvendra Chahal showed what he can do if the ball is gripping the wicket, after he looked flat in the first two games. Keeping the Australian conditions in mind, the wily leg-spinner will be looking to up his game on docile pitches.

As Sharma spoke about the importance of giving all the players game-time ahead of the World Cup, Ravichandran Ashwin could get a look-in.

In the batting department, KL Rahul would like to make the most of the series after missing out on the last two games against Australia.

With Virat Kohli and Sharma looking in good touch, it is important that Rahul too is in full flow before the team travels to Australia.

India will be competing against a team they are yet to beat at home in a bilateral series. Both the teams will also face each other in a group game in Australia and though conditions would be totally different there, they can pick out areas that need fine-tuning.

“The pitches in Australia will be different and ground size will be a lot bigger, but as a bowler there is always something you can work on,” said South Africa bowler Tabraiz Shamsi. — PTI

New ball quite a challenge in India, says Bavuma

Thiruvananthapuram: South Africa captain Temba Bavuma feels facing the swinging ball in the powerplay will be one of the main challenges for his team in the three-match T20I series against India, beginning here tomorrow.

India bounced back from being 0-1 down to post a 2-1 win against Australia.

The focus will now shift to an identical match-up against the Proteas, the final dress rehearsal for both the teams before the T20 World Cup in Australia, beginning next month. “Facing the new ball bowlers (in India) is quite challenging, they make the ball to swing and move in quite a bit, a bit more than what we are accustomed to in South Africa. That’s obviously a challenge you have to manoeuvre around,” the South African white-ball skipper said on the eve of the opening game. pti

11India and South Africa have clashed in 20 T20Is so far, with India winning 11 times and the Proteas eight.

62India’s new batting template has helped them hit 62 sixes in the powerplay this year. That puts them on top, followed by Ireland with 37 sixes.

2Only two South Africans — AB de Villiers and Rilee Rossouw — have played over 100 T20Is while maintaining an average above 30 and a strike-rate above 140.

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