Team India was on the brink of creating history of most successive wins in T20 Internationals if they could win the first T20 against South Africa at Arun Jetly Stadium last night. India had a new stand-in skipper for this series in Rishabh Pant, after KL Rahul was out for the series with a growing injury. It was a bit of a surprise call for many as India had more successful T20 captains in the squad in Hardik Pandya and Shreyas Iyer.

Hardik won the IPL recently in his debut season as captain and did a magnificent job for his franchise. On the other hand, Shreyas Iyer took Delhi Capitals to the IPL finals in his debut season as captain as well in 2020. Nonetheless, Pant lose the vital toss in the game and South Africa decided to send India to bat first. AJS always have been a happy chasing ground and the Proteas took their chance and chased a record total of 212 with ease. India stand-in captain Rishabh Pant said that they had enough runs on the board but the bowlers could not execute their plans to defend that.

“I think we had enough on the board but were off with our execution, but credit to the opposition,” Pant said at the post-match press conference.

“We thought the slower one was working when we were batting but it became easier in the second innings. We were very happy with the total but next time we are in a similar situation we will do better.”

Let’s look at the talking points of the IND vs SA 1st T20I match:

Ishan Kishan back in form when it matters

Kishan had an IPL to forget as a batter for Mumbai Indians this year. The left-hander was purchased for 15.5 CR in the auction but failed to deliver the expectations. But he was on song again with India against South Africa. The highly talented wicketkeeper batter smashed 76 off 48 balls which included 11 fours and 3 sixes. He had a nervy start to his innings but then accelerated swiftly against the quality bowling attack and helped India post a massive total on the board.

Hardik Pandya- a strong finisher at the end of the first innings in IND vs SA

After having a fairytale of a season as captain and batter for Gujarat Titans in the IPL, Hardik was back as a finisher for India. The 28-year-old played at numbers 3 and 4 for GT and took responsibility as a middle-order batsman. Few would have thought that he can adapt to the finisher’s role for India again and he answered it with a blistering 31 not out from 12 balls coming in at number 5.

Killer Miller and Van Der Dussen partnership

 The veteran left-hander won so many games for his IPL franchise just a few days ago and now he did it for his country against India. His unbeaten knock of 64 off 31 balls kept South Africa in the run chase and built a match-winning 100+ runs partnership with Van Der Dussen to chase down 212, a record chase for his national team. Rassie, on the other hand, took time to get settled in the middle but after Shreyas Iyer dropped him in the deep, he smashed the ball all over the park to score 75 from 46.

Rishabh Pant’s weak captaincy costs Team India

When KL Rahul was ruled out of the T20 series with an injury, it was decided that Rishabh Pant would take his place as the skipper. This decision got a lot of mixed reactions with Hardik Pandya being in the side and recently winning the IPL 2022 tournament. It was a competition in which his role as a leader got a lot of praise.

However, the team management had different ideas and Pant once again failed to step up in the first IND vs SA game. With that being said, the fans will want to see some drastic changes to his captaincy. He has made quite a few mistakes in recent times, trying to lead the side. That will not be tolerated by an impatient Indian fanbase for too long.