India vs South Africa: Five players to watch out for in the series
Team India is scheduled to play against South Africa in a five-match T20I home series, starting on 9 June 2022. Both these teams will look to test some combination of players in this series, leading up to the T20 World Cup later this year in Australia.
Big names like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been rested for the series as India named a young squad, including some fresh names like Umran Malik after their successful Indian T20 League campaign this year. On the other hand, the Proteas named a strong squad as they are going to play their first T20I series after last year’s World Cup Campaign.
Here are the five players to watch out for in the series
Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya surprised everyone by leading his Gujarat franchise to the maiden Indian T20 League title in their maiden appearance.
He scored 487 runs in 15 innings at an average of 44.27 along with 8 wickets in 10 innings. Even, in the final against Rajasthan, he was the Player of the Match by picking up three wickets and scoring a crucial 34 runs off 30 balls while chasing.
David Miller
Gujarat franchise put faith in this Protea batter and he repaid it by making it his best ever season in the tournament. For the last few years, he was nowhere near his best but this time around, Miller proved his critics wrong.
He smashed 481 runs in 16 matches at an average of 68.71 and took his team home in some crunchy situations. In the final, he scored a quickfire 32* runs off 19 balls only.
Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik rejuvenated himself as a finisher in this shortest format of the game as he played some match-winning knocks for his Bangalore franchise. His instant six-hitting ability made him different from others in this year’s tournament, especially coming to bat in the death overs.
Batting down the order, Karthik scored 330 runs in 16 innings at an average of 55.00. He batted at a strike rate of 183.33 as well.
Tabraiz Shamsi
This South African Chinaman holds the top rank in the T20I bowler list for his consistent performance in the last few years. Shamsi can be a handy option for the Proteas to win this series.
Shamsi enjoys playing this format as he has bagged 57 wickets in 47 matches at an economy of 6.54. Against India, he played five matches so far and picked up four wickets at an economy of 8.40.
Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal had another fantastic year at the Indian T20 League by becoming the highest wicket-taker of the tournament.
For his Rajasthan franchise, he bagged 27 wickets in 17 matches at an economy of 7.75. He also scalped a hattrick in the tournament against the Kolkata .
