India recently announced their squad for the upcoming South Africa series. A four-match T20I series will be played in the Rainbow Nation starting from 8th November.
BCCI has announced a string squad for the series as they plan further for the future. Ever since India’s triumph in the T20 World Cup, this will be their fourth assignment in the shortest format of the game with the other three coming against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh which they won handsomely. Here is how India’s playing XI might line up for the upcoming South Africa series:
Openers: Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson
Sharma has already proven his mettle with 159 runs from eight matches. More importantly he has gotten a century which came against Zimbabwe. His strike rate of 170.96 makes him a big name to watch out for. Sanju Samson has done pretty well in recent times and will obviously be the second opener, considering the fact that there aren’t any more names in the side to lead the opening charge.
Middle order: Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel
Suryakumar Yadav, the Indian captain is obviously a revolutionary force in the Indian cricket team and has completely revamped the fastest lane of cricket with his incredible batting.
Tilak Varma has shown his class before in the Indian threads in West Indies and will be hopeful of getting back to the international yards with a bang. He has a got wide array of strokes up his sleeve. Rinku Singh has been an absolute gem in T20I cricket. His finishing flair has come in extremely handy. His average of 59.87 and a strike rate of 175.45 in T20Is is simply a burning testimony to his classy calibre.
Hardik Pandya, one of the three senior players of the side was the MVP for India in the T20 World Cup, An all-rounder and a leader, Pandya’s presence in the side is a crucial one. Axar Patel, another reliable all-rounder can also be a game-changer. He is a wicket-taker with the ball in his hands while with the bat, he provides reliability and can conflate that with some frenetic striking in the dying overs.
Bowlers: Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Avesh Khan, Vyshak Vijaykumar
Considering the pacy and the bouncy conditions of South Africa, Arshdeep Singh becomes a key pick with the ball in his hands. His recent form attests to his brilliance with the new ball while his miserly figures in the death overs can be a boon. Varun Chakravarthy has been a sensation in the last series against Bangladesh and India will try and keep his form going. He has a wild variety of deliveries up his sleeve.
Vyshak Vijaykumar will be coming in because in South African conditions, three seamers will always be handy. More importantly, Vyshak has been a consistent performer for Karnataka in the domestic games.
Avesh Khan is an experienced campaigner and can be one of the key names when it comes to leading the charge in the South Africa series with the ball in his hands.
