5 Talking Points from the recently concluded India vs South Africa T20 Series:
The 5 match T20 Series had a forgettable ending as the Series Decider was called off due to rain. Being 2-0 down, India staged one of the brilliant comebacks in the next 2 matches to make it 2-2.
Today we will be discussing about the 5 Key Points that were evident in the recently concluded T20 Series.
1.The Openers deserve a longer rope:
India fielded Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad as the new opening pair as the regular openers were rested for the series. The duo grabbed the opportunity with both hands especially Kishan who ended up scoring 206 runs in the 5 match series with 2 fifties. Gaikwad too brought up his maiden T20 in this series and had a series strike rate of 131.
2. The form of Middle Order remains a concern:
The opening duo flourished but the concerns with the middle order remains. India played Shreyas Iyer at 3 and Rishabh Pant at 4, but none could actually stage the set on fire. Pant who was also the skipper of the side was the weakest link and managed to score only 58 runs in the series with a strike rate of 106. Shreyas Iyer although got starts but could not convert into something big.
3. The Finisher problem is more or less sorted:
The middle order for India disappointed but the lower middle order, ie the finishers didn't. The duo of Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik looked highly promising and gave India a solid finish whenever they got a chance. Both of them finished at a strike rate of over 150 in the series. While Hardik had a strike rate of 153.95, Karthik batted with a strike rate of 158.62 also bringing up his maiden International T20 half-century in the series.
4. The Pace Battery looked promising:
Another major plus point for India in the series was the performance of the pace bowlers. The trio of Bhubaneswar Kumar, Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan stepped up in occasions when required and scalped 17 wickets together in 4 matches. Harshal finished the series as the highest wicket taker (7) whereas Bhubaneswar was named as the Man of the Series.
5. Spin is here to stay:
Spin especially wrist spin has been a potent option for Team India in the past. However there was a reduced dependency on the wrist spinners in the past 1 year that saw the wickets column get drier. But the series against South Africa once again proved that wrist spinners are still a viable wicket taking option in India. Yuzvendra Chahal looked highly promising in the series with 6 wickets in 4 innings he bowled. He was also the MOM in one of the matches.
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