India's Predicted XI vs South Africa, 3rd T20I: Suryakumar Yadav To Make One Bold Change?
With the four-match series being levelled at 1-1, India will aim to bounce back in style in the third T20I on Wednesday in Centurion.
After beating South Africa in the first T20I by 61 runs, Team India faced a shocking defeat in the second match by three wickets. Suryakumar Yadav and co suffered an immense batting collapse in Gqeberha and posted a total of 124/6. Later, Varun Chakarvarthy provided India with some hope as he scaled five wickets but the Proteas went across the line with six balls to spare. With the four-match series being levelled at 1-1, India will aim to bounce back in style in the third T20I on Wednesday in Centurion.
Indian batting line-up needs to get its mojo back against a resurgent South Africa in the third match at the SuperSport Park, Centurion. Along with that unfamiliarity factor, India will also grapple with the ordinary form of their batters, particularly when the pitch here is touted to be similar to the one at Gqeberha - quick and bouncy.
The problem starts from the top - more precisely with Abhishek Sharma, whose extended lean run with the bat has now snowballed into a serious concern. He is in desperate need of a good outing here before the management thinks of juggling the combination.
Even now, they can think of giving the job of partnering Sanju Samson at the top to Tilak Varma and bringing in Ramandeep Singh in the middle to add more muscle to the unit.
However, the senior batters like skipper Suryakumar Yadav, Pandya and Rinku Singh too cannot absolve themselves of the blame entirely for India's struggles.
Similarly, pacers Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan had two contrasting games. Arshdeep returned with figures of 1 for 25 at Durban, but in the second game, he had stats of 1 for 41.
So, they will be eager to change the script here, unless the management looks at other options such as Yash Dayal or Vysakh Vijaykumar.
However, the efforts of Varun Chakravarthy, who bagged a maiden fifer in the previous match, and Ravi Bishnoi over the last two matches have been outstanding.
India's Predicted XI for the 3rd T20I: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Yash Dayal, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Avesh Khan
(With PTI Inputs)
South Africa Cricket Team
India Cricket Team
Sanju Samson