IND vs SA 1st T20I review- Well, this was something that was completely out of the ordinary. In a game that was low-scoring, yet highly competitive, it was India who emerged victorious at Thiruvananthapuram, but they were made to fight for every run by a Proteas side who earlier folded quicker than a pack of cards with the bat. After being put into bat first, The South Batsmen were absolutely rocked by the swing duo of Deepak Chahar and Arshdeep Singh, and found themselves 5 wickets down for just 9 runs.
It would have been uglier if not for Keshav Maharaj and Wayne Parnell, who along with Aiden Markram were the only batsmen to get a semblance of the condition and pushed the score up to 106. India were no much better, losing Rohit and Kohli early to give the proteas a glimmer, but Rahul and SKY made sure that there were no more hiccups and took the side safely home.
Here are the talking points from the game from the 1st T20I of the IND vs SA series-
1. Chahar and Arshdeep wreak havoc in IND vs SA
While the pitch in the Greenfield stadium was expected to have something for the bowlers, no one expected the pitch to do so much. Step forward Deepak Chahar and Arshdeep Singh. Both of the bowlers ruthlessly took advantage of the conditions and bowled in the right lengths to absolutely rock the South African batsmen.
While Bavuma and Miller got their poles rocked by vicious in-swingers, De Kock and Rossouw got balls that went away from them. It is not many times that we have seen two swing bowlers bowl in tandem for India, and the performance from both the bowlers, Arshdeep in particular, is a tremendous positive for India, and will bode well for the fortunes of the side in the World Cup.
2. R Ashwin gets a bowl
Before the game, there was a lot of debate as to which one of Ashwin or Axar Patel would be drafted into the side. While the majority of the people thought that Ashwin would be in place of Axar, Rohit elected to play both of them. So it was a welcome sight to see Ashwin bowl after a substantial amount of time on the bench.
While there weren’t many left handers to bowl to, Ashwin bowled tightly and used all his variations and experience to keep the batsmen on a tight leash. He finished his day with figures of 0-8 in his 4 overs, which means that the old fox can still do a fantastic job when called upon, once again highlighting the strength in depth.
3. SKY on cloud 9
Right now, Suryakumar Yadav cannot seem to put a foot wrong in international cricket. Whatever he touches turns to gold at the moment. Yesterday, he walked in to bat with the side in a spot of bother at 17-2, with the Proteas bowling attack breathing fire and the pitch still playing tricks with the batsmen. Apart from the first two balls, where he was ducking and weaving, he looked in absolute control and seemed like he was playing on an entirely different surface.
Be it the pace of Nortje, the movement of Rabada, or the variations of Parnell coupled with the spin and guile of Maharaj and Shamsi, SKY had an answer for everything thrown at him. Not once he stopped playing his shots. He was the only batter on either side to score his runs in a strike rate that was in excess of 150, which was a tremendous feat. This man is showing no signs of stopping and the world is taking notice of it.
3. Rahul’s innings divides opinion in IND vs SA 1st T20I
Once again Kl Rahul had sauntered into the spotlight. While the win and the 50 papered over the cracks, make no mistake, the Karnataka batsman mightily struggled in his time in the middle. In the powerplay, he looked like a deer stuck in headlights, unable to pick the lengths and was constantly bothered by the movement that was generated by the bowlers. He was also almost dismissed by a Parnell delivery which jagged back in viciously, only for umpires call to come to his rescue.
Even after that, he was unable to counter the seam and swing in the early phase, which resulted in him getting struck on the pads a couple times more. Such were his struggles, that at one point he was languishing at 13 RUNS in 32 BALLS. Yes the conditions were tailor-made for bowling and it was difficult, but when you have a side who could bat till number 10, which was the case for India yesterday, such an innings was downright criminal. People advocating that he was holding one end up need to understand that these types of innings only pull the team down, and that is exactly what happened. Kl Rahul needs to get his act together quickly or this could be a very long tournament for him in Australia.
Jasprit Bumrah ruled out of T20 World Cup
No good news for Team India comes without some bad news to go with it. It has now been confirmed that Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the T20 World Cup in Australia. The pacer just returned from a long-term injury and will now be out due to a back stress facture. This is not good news for the Indian side, who would have liked to go into the tournament with a really strong bowling side.
Their death bowling and the overall performances in recent times have been below par. This will not help their cause now either and Rohit Sharma and co. have a big problem in their hands. This performance will have boosted the confidence of a few bowlers but it won’t help the confidence of the fans in this team right now!!
Dilip Sarwa
1 Oct 2022why not picked mohd. Shami