3rd T20I: India Eye Batting Revival Against SA at Centurion

 Indian batting line-up need to get its mojo back against a resurgent South Africa to regain lost ground on rar unfamiliar SuperSport Park conditions when two teams clash third T20I here Wednesday.

Since 2009, India have played only one T20I at this venue, which y lost by six wickets in 2018 and have only one survivor from that squ in this side -- Hardik Pandya .

Along with that unfamiliarity factor, India will also grapple with ordinary form of ir batters, particularly when pitch here is touted to be similar to one at Gqeberha – quick and bouncy.

In second T20I, India batters struggled against South African pacers upfront, getting restricted to 124 for six, and Centurion has similar characteristics.

problem starts from top – more precisely with Abhishek Sharma, whose extended lean run with bat has now snowballed into a serious concern. He is in desperate need of a good outing here before management thinks of juggling combination.

Even now, y can think of giving job of partnering Sanju Samson at top to Tilak Varma and bring in Ramandeep Singh in middle to d more muscle to unit.

However, senior batters like skipper Suryakumar Yav , Pandya and Rinku Singh too cannot absolve mselves of blame entirely for India's struggles.

Both Suryakumar and Rinku have shown only fleeting images of ir prowess here while Pandya me 39 in second match but he consumed 45 balls for it.

In fact, power-hitter took 28 balls to find his first boundary and, again, could not find ropes between balls 39 and 45.

So, se three batters will have to chip in more to support in in-form Samson or to carry India to a strong total even when Kerala man has a vapid day.

Similarly, pacers Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan h two contrasting games. Arshdeep returned with figures of 1 for 25 at Durban, but in second game he h stats of 1 for 41.

left-arm pacer’s third and fourth overs which went for 28 runs – including four fours in an over against Tristan Stubbs – me a deep impact on low-scoring match.

So, y will be eager to change script here, unless management looks at or options such as Yash Dayal or Vysakh Vijaykumar.

However, efforts of Varun Chakravarthy, who bagged a maiden fifer in previous match, and Ravi Bishnoi over last two matches have been outstanding and spinners will be looking for an encore in third match to hand back vantage to India.

expected bounce and pace on pitch here will be an encouraging factor as well for Indian duo.

From a batting perspective, South Africa too face a similar issue as senior pros skipper Aiden Markram, David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen are yet to fire in this series.

y required runs from less-pedigreed batters Tristan Stubbs and Gerald Coetzee to get over line in second contest, and Proteas will certainly cherish a heftier contribution from ir veterans, especially against Indian spinners.

Teams (from): India: Suryakumar Yav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Hardik Pandya. Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh. Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal.

South Africa: Aiden Markram (c), Ottneil Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen. Heinrich Klaasen, Patrick Kruger. Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Mihlali Mpongwana, Nqaba Peter, Ryan Rickelton. Andile Simelane. Lutho Sipamla, Tristan Stubbs.

Match starts at 8.30pm IST.