Ahmedabad. By winning all four matches in the group stage, the Indian team has strengthened its claim to defend the title. But now he will have to face a tough challenge from South Africa in the Super Eight of the T20 World Cup on Sunday. In this match, the changed strategy of captain Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Verma will be tested, in which they will have to bat steadily instead of big shots. South Africa has strong bowlers like Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Marco Janson, Keshav Maharaj and Aiden Markram, who are ready to give India a tough test. Both the teams will face each other for the sixth time in the last two months and it remains to be seen which team takes better advantage of the conditions. The match will be played from 7 pm.
India did not face much challenge in the group stage, but the team knows that its batting needs improvement. Except Ishan Kishan (two half-centuries and strike rate of 202), other top batsmen have not performed well so far. Abhishek Sharma has been out for zero in three consecutive matches and is waiting for his first run. Suryakumar and Tilak have played the role of facilitators, but both have not performed comfortably on pitches where the ball comes to rest.
Who will hit the field between India and South Africa?
India has been heavily dependent on Hardik Pandya (strike rate 155) and Shivam Dubey (strike rate 178) to score runs and the team will expect good performance from both of them again. Abhishek has been out to off-spinners twice in a row, so it will be interesting to see whether South African captain Markram bowls the off-break in the powerplay or not. Abhishek’s form is a matter of concern, but Tilak’s poor batting also cannot be ignored. Against Pakistan he scored 25 runs in 24 balls, against Namibia he scored 25 runs in 21 balls and against Netherlands he scored 31 runs in 27 balls. His strike rate is slightly above 120, which is much lower than his career strike rate of 141. Suryakumar had played a brilliant inning of 84 unbeaten runs in 49 balls against America, but after that he did not show anything special.
His batting against Pakistan or Netherlands was not very comfortable. His strike rate is 136, which is much lower than his career strike rate of 163. The Indian team, which plays with eight batsmen and believes in playing to its full potential, cannot afford to have two batsmen who are struggling to score runs freely on those pitches. What makes India a dangerous team is their bowling attack, which includes important eight overs from Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy. In the first phase, no team including Pakistan was able to face the Indian bowlers easily.
Varun Kravarthy has taken nine wickets in four matches and has bowled at an economy rate of 5.16. Bumrah has given only six runs per over in three matches. But the entire bowling unit will have to perform well against batsmen like Quinton de Kock, Markram, Dewald Brewis, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickleton, David Miller and Marco Yanson. The match against South Africa will reveal how the Indian team will perform in the final stages of the tournament. Talking about changes in the team, India can include Kuldeep Yadav in place of Arshdeep Singh and Akshar Patel in place of Washington Sundar in the playing eleven. Talking about South Africa, Yanson, Ngidi and Maharaj will return, who were rested in the match against UAE.
pitch report
The pitch at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad has been very favorable for batting, as India saw in their match against Netherlands. Despite faltering in the middle order, India posted a mammoth score of 193/6 and the opposition made it difficult for India by scoring 176/7. Similar wickets can be expected for the match between India and South Africa.
India-South Africa Weather Update
The weather forecast in Ahmedabad is quite positive. There is no possibility of rain in this match which will start at 7 pm Indian time at Narendra Modi Stadium. Temperatures are expected to be around 24-29 degrees Celsius, and humidity is expected to be above 40 percent.
India vs South Africa Probable Playing XI
India: Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Washington Sundar/Akshar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakraborty.
South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brewis, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Marco Johnson, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, George Linde.