Cape Town - India and South Africa are set to begin a much-anticipated T20I series on Thursday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi.
The five-match series will be important for a few players in order to stake a claim for a spot in the T20 World Cup team which will be played later in the year in Australia.
The hosts have rested their senior core namely captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah and picked a relatively youthful but talented squad, while South Africa are also hoping to unleash a couple of exciting new talents alongside their own Indian Premier League superstars Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada, David Miller and Anrich Nortje.
We profile India’s batting talent Ishan Khan and new fast bowling sensation Umar Malik and also South Africa’s Tristan Stubbs and Marco Jansen.
South Africa: Tristan Stubbs
The 21-year-old grabbed centre stage at the CSA T20 Challenge in his hometown of Gqeberha earlier this year. St George’s Park was his personal playground as Stubbs showed no respect to any bowler’s reputation.
With the freedom to express himself, the youngster smashed 23 sixes and 11 fours in the competition. The next best was Pieter Malan’s 13 sixes accumulated in two matches more than the former Grey High prodigy.
These feats earned Stubbs a late call-up to the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League and that taste of subcontinent conditions will serve him well should he be handed a Proteas T20I debut in this series.
South Africa: Marco Jansen
Jansen is undoubtedly the “Newcomer of the Season” for the Proteas this past six months due to the impact he’s made in the Test arena. The lanky left-armer was particularly effective in the home series against India and will no doubt be eager to have another crack at KL Rahul’s team. However, due to this it is often forgotten that Jansen is only a 22-year-old baby and still learning his trade, particularly in white-ball cricket. However, he does possess all the skills to be successful, especially due to the variation he adds to the Proteas attack in addition to his all-round batting skills. Will also have benefitted from his recent IPL season with the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
India: Ishan Khan
Khan is a prodigiously talented wicket-keeper/batter cut from the same cloth as his former Mumbai Indian opening partner Quinton de Kock. He plays with a similar amount of flair and chutzpah. However, due to India’s riches in both the keeping and top-order departments, he will need a brilliant series to force his way into India’s T20 World Cup squad.
India: Umran Malik
The fast bowling sensation of the IPL literally bowled himself into this Indian T20I squad due to his performances for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Malik’s rapid ascension has undoubtedly been helped by his Sunrisers bowling coach and Proteas legend Dale Steyn purring about the 22-year-old on social media after every game. Steyn is certainly the speedster’s role-model with Malik even mimicking his trademark fist-pumping celebration.