IND vs SA 2nd T20I: Top five players to watch out for in the Indian blues

With the world record on the line, the men in blue were expected to go out all guns blazing in the first T20I match against South Africa on June 9, 2022. Under Rishabh Pant’s captaincy, the men in blue delivered with the bat but fell short of performances and ran out of options when they had to defend 211 against the Proteas who never started as favorites.

Both the captaincy tactics and the bowling performance from India came under heavy scrutiny and now they will look to rectify it all and get back on the winning track at Cuttack when they take on the Proteas team in the second T20I, here are the five Indian players to watch out for ahead of the big game.

Shreyas Iyer

In the absence of the Indian batting legend Virat Kohli, Rahul Dravid and co. have entrusted Shreyas Iyer with the responsibility of batting at no. 3 for the Indian team. The newly appointed KKR captain who did not offer a lot to his franchise played at a pretty low strike rate of 133.33 and scored 36 off 27 balls when he came out to bat against South Africa in the first T20I. The Mumbai batsman who has an abundance of talent will look to put an end to his bad run and contribute to the team’s cause by scoring runs. Shreyas is expected to bat at no. 3 again and he will try and grab this opportunity to put himself in contention for the world T20I squad.

Dinesh Karthik
Defying all the odds and riding high on the success of his stint with RCB (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Karthik has once again made it to the Indian team and is expected to come well in this series. Karthik’s selection has sparked a lot of debate with age not being on his side, but the finishing skills he displayed in IPL 2022 guaranteed him a return to the Indian side and he is expected to fire in the same way as he did for his IPL franchise. 

Hardik Pandya
The all-rounder’s comeback story is nothing short of a fairytale. The Baroda-based player had been left out of the Indian team and was released by Mumbai Indians due to injury & fitness concerns ahead of IPL 2022. He turned it all around as he led Gujarat Titans to a maiden IPL victory and displayed his prowess as an all-rounder in the tournament. He blasted against the Proteas too by scoring 31* off 12 deliveries at a strike rate of 258.33 but came under heavy scrutiny for his bowling. Going into the next match, Hardik will look forward to delivering with the bowl as much as he has been delivering with the bat.

Harshal Patel
Considered one of the best death bowlers in the Indian circuit recently, Harshal Patel is expected to deliver in the Indian jersey as much as he delivers for his franchise RCB. With the controlled slower ones and cutters, Patel has won matches for his franchise on many occasions. However, he was hit all around the park as he gave away 43 runs in his quota of 4 overs. The veteran will look to return to his best and restrain the opposition, an art that he has mastered extremely well.

Rishabh Pant
The newly appointed Indian skipper was a subject of debate due to his captaincy tactics against the Proteas in the first T20I against South Africa. Pant who did not come good with the bat for Delhi Capitals is one of India’s hope to strike it big in the middle overs. The wicketkeeper-batsman scored a quickfire 29 off 16 deliveries which propelled India to score 211 at the end of 20 overs. It will be interesting to see Pant’s approach after India has lost the opening match under his leadership.