Selected Team India analysis for the series against South Africa: BCCI announced squad for 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs and MS Dhoni will be the captain.
2 new faces are selected in the Indian squad for the T20Is and first 3 ODIs. There are no major surprises at all. Call for talented Punjab all-rounder Gurkeerat Singh in the ODI squad sent a very positive message to all the players in the domestic circuit that to Perform and earn rewards by their performances.He was not the only one included because of good performances in the domestic circuit but also Left-arm seamer S. Aravind too earned a call-up in the T20I squad after some fine performances for Karnataka and India A.
PACERS: In the absence of Shami in this series, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav will have to make an impact with the new ball by a capable bowler. There is Mohit Sharma to back them up as the third pacer as he can mix his variations well in defeating the batsman.
India have picked three pacers in their T20 squad with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sreenath Aravind and Mohit Sharma. The tall Karnataka pacer has been called up for the national side for the first time in T20Is after his excellent performance in the domestic circuit.
Aravind has played 45 T20 matches claiming 55 wickets with a decent average of 21.76. The 31-year-old also has a best bowling figures of 4/14 and an economy of 7.77 which is healthy going by T20 standards
Mohit did a fine job in the 2015 World Cup and one can expect him to be in the playing XI against South Africa. Umesh is replaced by Aravind for the T20I’s.
2. SPINNERS: Amit Mishra and R. Ashwin selected as the spinners in the squads as they are most consistent in their past games. In both the forms, it will be R. Ashwin who will be given the Lead as a spinner.
Meanwhile, Harbhajan makes his place into the T20 side after his best performances in the IPL. However, Harbhajan lost his potency as a spinner in Tests as well as in the limited overs format.
After series of poor performances from Ravindra Jadeja, he has been given no chance to perform in the series. He was shown just doors by the selectors from both the T20 and ODI squads as from few months he didn’t register even a single match winning performance.
Amit Mishra comes back to the Indian ODI squad after a gap of two years since the tour of Zimbabwe 2013 where he was awarded man of the series. His all-around effort in the recently concluded Test series against Sri Lanka and has earned him a spot in the ODI squad as well.
3. OPENERS : In the ODI’s, it will be Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan who will open as their pair is much possible in building partnerships.
• Shikhar Dhawan: The left-handed Indian opener was ruled out of India’s tour of Sri Lanka after the first Test at Galle. Shikhar scored 134 in the first innings but due to his finger injury he was given rest. He has an astonishing record against South Africa as his match winning 114 in Cardiff in the 2013 Champions trophy and 137 in Melbourne in the 2015 World Cup against the tough bowling attack of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel have made him the best hoping batsman in this series. India have never won against South Africa in the World Cup but as Dhawan glittered with his performance, it helped India to notch up first win over them. So, it is expected that Dhawan will keep his strength against South Africa in his first T20 against the them at Dharamsala.
• Rohit Sharma: Rohit Sharma played six T20I matches against South Africa with an average of 45.25. It was in 2007 inaugural ICC World T20 in South Africa, 21 years old Rohit was making his batting debut at Kingsmead, Durban. India had already lost four wickets in the first 10 overs but the young lad played a 52 runs innings and built a 85 runs partnership with Dhoni that changed the course of the match. Since then his performances against the African bowling continued till now.
In 2011, when India were touring South Africa Rohit Sharma scored 53 runs at Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban in which India won by 26 runs. Rohit is in good form in Sri Lanka Test series victory so, Rohit who is more suitable in shorter formats will keep his best performances ahead.
( In T20Is they haven’t set the firing pair as in ODI’s but among the two Rohit Sharma will be persisted as the opener even in T20I’s as some of his knocks make us feel he is suited much as aggressive man. If Dhawan fails in the few games, then Ajinkya Rahane could replace him for the next T20I. But in the ODI’s it will be integral that Sharma and Dhawan provide India with a solid start and can dominate African tough bowling.)
4. MIDDLE-ORDER: The middle order is pretty much clear for the ODIs with Virat, Raina, Dhoni, Rayudu who can make some possible knocks that would help Team India to gain the Series. Kohli will be countering the African bowlers at his desired number 3 position.
MS Dhoni is likely to become India’s new number 4 in the ODI’s as he will be a massive boon for India in rotating the strike really well and can then finish things like a Storm Match finisher.
Rayudu will be the 5th batsman who can score runs with ease without much of a fuss at his back. Suresh Raina will take over the number 6 slot where a clean striker of the ball is needed for the team in crucial overs. Thus middle order much perfect.
• Virat Kohli: Virat Kohli played four matches against South Africa with an average of 51 a very good knocking figure that depicts his timing and sense of shots. His best performance came in 2014 World T20 second semifinal in Bangladesh when India were chasing South Africa’s massive 173. Kohli played a 72 off 44 runs innings to turn India to victory.
Virat after his long string of failure since World Cup century against Pakistan regained his picked form in Sri Lanka, where captain Kohli scored a century and a 78 run knock which led India to 2-1 Test series victory.
• MS Dhoni: The 33 year old Indian captain MS Dhoni’s dynamics of captaincy and sharpness of batting will come under scrutiny during this series. As a bat he usually bat at 6 so not many chances for him to make great knocks. His 45 against South Africa in 2007 World Cup built a 85 runs partnership with debutant Rohit Sharma helped India in matter of Success.
Dhoni in recent time has been ridden by controversy since he quit Test cricket in the middle of the series.
He was criticised for not coming at no. 4 in the World Cup semifinal in which India lost. Dhoni tried to build the Indian Innings but Australia demolished the middle order and there is nobody who could provide assistance to Dhoni. Followed by surprising defeat in Bangladesh raised questions about his ODI captaincy as well. So, this series will be crucial for his career.The scrutiny will start from October 2 and will continue till October 25.
• Ajinkya Rahane: BCCI had made Ajinkya Rahane captain to lead a second-string Indian team to lead 3-0 ODI series win in Zimbabwe. Rahane was accused of not able to rotate the strike in the Bangladesh series by MS Dhoni.
Rahane scored 79 of 60 against South Africa in Melbourne that helped India to defeat South Africa.Recently in Sri Lanka he scored a match winning 126 in the second innings of P.Sara Oval Test in Colombo. But in T20Is he has to prove his caliber to play in T20 and ODI. The first T20 will be his second shortest format match against South Africa.
• Ambati Rayudu: The right-handed batsman was unluckily ruled out of the Zimbabwe tour after the second match. During the Bangladesh tour he played two matches failed in the second match and but became a victim of the umpire’s wrong decision in the third match where he scored 44 and the ball was coming well to his bat.
He was chosen for three matches Zimbabwe series in which he scored a match-winning 124 from difficult situations. He yet to make a T20 batting debut. But Rayudu has versatile strokes in his hands and can hit the ball hard in the slog over which had been seen in the warm-up match against Australia before the 2015 World Cup. So, Dhoni might play safe keeping him with the team ahead of Rahane.
• Suresh Raina: Raina is back in international action after four months of vacation. On the day of team selection he scored hundred after two consecutive failures against Bangladesh ‘A’.
He is the only Indian batsman who had hit T20I century against South Africa. It is expected that, at home, he will back in his devastating mood which he uses to display in T20 cricket.
ALL-ROUNDERS: There will be a 3 way battle for the all rounder’s slot in both the formats among Stuart Binny, Axar Patel and Gurkeerat Singh as only One will be selected for the number 7 slot in the ODI’s.
For the T20I’s the only new candidate will be Harbhajan Singh who will replace Gurkeerat.
Considering South Africa’s failures against spin, it will be ideal to have Axar at 7 as he slow down the run rate and pick wickets as early s he can. However, Binny’s improved batting performances in Zimbabwe will make it difficult to leave him out from race. Thus Team Indian squad is looking perfect.
( Finally, The Indian Team Squads represent a perfect mixture of experience and youth. The experienced individuals such as MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and R. Ashwin will have to set an firing performance to make an impression and way for Team India to step on Victory. Without the experienced individuals stepping up, it will be difficult for the youngsters to settle in and break knocks. )
Click Here To See Full Squad.
The post Selected Team India analysis for the series against South Africa appeared first on CricSpirit.