India vs South Africa: Three Battles To Watch Out For In The Series

With each passing day, the excitement for the five-match T20I series between India and South Africa is increasing. It’s a rather unequal battle as the hosts are playing with quite a few inexperienced players. On the other hand, the visitors will have experienced players in their arsenal. The reason for the Men in Blue resting their senior players is the upcoming England tour, where they will play an all-format series.

On the other hand, the Proteas are playing their first T20I series since the 20-20 World Cup in the UAE last year. They are looking to build the team with pretty much the same set of players who played in the showpiece event. Only Tristan Stubbs and Wayne Parnell are new to the side. However, Parnell is making a comeback after a five-year exile. Meanwhile, in this listicle, we will discuss three, player battles to watch out for.

Battles to watch out for

1. KL Rahul vs Kagiso Rabada

The stand-in skipper of the team has a weakness for the incoming deliveries from the pacers or swing bowlers. The reason for this is his tendency to cover the off-stump which makes it difficult to access the ball with the required flow. This makes him a candidate for bowled and LBW dismissals. In the recently concluded Indian T20 League 2022, the right-hander was troubled by some of the bowlers from different teams.

2. Rishabh Pant vs Tabraiz Shamsi 

The stand-in vice-captain of the team loves  taking on spinners and not letting them settle irrespective of the format. On the other hand, Shamsi can bowl quick googlies which skid off the surface due to his pace. Pant also gets out taking on the slow bowlers thanks to high-risk strokes. This will be an interesting battle to watch out for.

3. Shreyas Iyer vs Anrich Nortje 

There is no hiding the fact that Iyer has a weakness against high-class short-pitch bowling. The reason for this technical glitch in his batting is him not being able to decide whether to leave the ball or to play a full-fledged stroke. In the Indian T20 League 2022, he was seen trying different kinds of things against such bowling but it was clear that he was desperate to prove a point rather than being assured of his game on such kind of bowling. Anrich Nortje is the one who can exploit such kind of weakness with his pace