Cape Town — The Proteas face India in the first T20 international on Wednesday in Thiruvananthapuram (3:30pm start).
IOL Sport's Zaahier Adams highlights five things the Proteas need to do to beat the hosts.
1. Dominate the powerplay
The first six overs are quintessential to the outcome of any T20. And after starting superbly in the first match of the series in July when the experiment of utilising all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius up the order was successful, the Proteas lost their way a bit in the remainder with totals of 29/3, 38/2 and 35/2 following up the opening 61/2.
Much of that had to do with the superb form of player of the series Bhuvneshwar Kumar upfront with the new ball for India. The hosts are, though, resting Kumar for this series which will bring some relief to the Proteas, but India’s other talisman Jasprit Bumrah has returned.
The responsibility will lie with the returning Temba Bavuma, Reeza Hendricks and Quinton de Kock — depending on the make-up of the opening pair — to get the innings moving.
“Bhuvi and Bumrah are a challenge with the new ball and it is a challenge that you have to manoeuvre around. It is quite challenging, they get the ball to swing and move quite a bit in the powerplay, I think probably more than what we are used to. The key is to limit the damage and not let those wickets fall, and then try to get momentum going into the innings,” Bavuma said.
2. Contain the X-men
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are superstars of the T20 game and both missed the series in July. However, both Sharma and Kohli are back, and importantly are in form, and Kohli especially has rediscovered his touch in the preceding Asia Cup after a lean run.
“Obviously, those are big names with big pedigrees behind them, and as you saw in their last while, their performances have boosted the confidence of the team. We expect them to lead from the front, and it's good for us to come up against the best. You expect those guys to bring a lot of confidence and X-factor into the team,” Bavuma said.
3. The Proteas spinners need to show up
A tour of India is always a litmus test for any foreign spinner regardless of the format. And this is exactly what the last series showed with Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj finding the going much tougher than usual.
Shamsi is the world’s No-2 ranked T20 spinner but constantly gets overlooked at the IPL auction in favour of local options, and his performances on the last India tour certainly did him no favours. Shamsi picked up just one wicket at a cost of 104 runs, and conceded over 10 runs to the over. Equally, Maharaj, who is usually miserly in the powerplay, also conceded in excess of 10 runs to the over.
The Proteas cannot afford their spinners to leak runs in such an exorbitant manner, and will need to put in a better display if they are to build confidence ahead of the T20 World Cup.
4. No Rassie, no problem
This series will be the first that the Proteas undertake without their middle-order backbone Rassie van der Dussen. After a subdued start, Van der Dussen exploded in the series opener on the last tour and the Proteas will certainly miss his calmness under pressure.
Van der Dussen has, of course, been ruled out of this India tour and the subsequent T20 World Cup.
How the Proteas manage without their “Mr Reliable” will provide great insight ahead of the World Cup Down Under. Fortunately, for the Proteas, they have an abundance of in-form batters in Aiden Markram, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen and Tristan Stubbs ready to take on the mantle.
5. Be accurate in the field
It is imperative that the Proteas are accurate in the field - both on the ground and in the catching department.
The fielding unit have worked tremendously hard under Justin Onting to return to days when the Proteas were considered the industry leaders. But they have still been inconsistent, especially in England in the recent series where they were superb in the first and third T20s but dreadful in the second.
Leading up to a World Cup, they need to find a level of consistency that can be repeated game in and game out, for there will be no second chances.
IOL Sport