India's strongest playing XI for the T20I series vs South Africa
The BCCI have announced Team India's squad for their next T20I assignment, which will be against South Africa. The first of the three games will be played in Durban on Sunday, December 10.
The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya haven't been named in the contingent for various reasons. Suryakumar Yadav will lead the Men in Blue, who have quite a few possible combinations after picking as many as 17 players.
India’s squad for the T20I series vs South Africa: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (vc), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Chahar.
Here is India's strongest playing XI for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa.
Openers: Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal
This is a tough one to call, with Ruturaj Gaikwad hammering his maiden T20I century recently. But Gaikwad's attacking game is still not as polished as it can be, and he has the tendency to get sucked into a dot fest at the start of his innings.
Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal don't have that problem and could thus be India's best opening combination in the shortest format. While Gill is making a return to the side after being rested for the Australia T20Is, Jaiswal seems to be in excellent form at the moment.
Middle Order: Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Rinku Singh
More controversial calls must be taken in the middle order. Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer are two of Team India's most important players across formats, and both are bound to be backed to the hilt by the selectors and the team management.
However, should Shreyas and Kishan be part of India's strongest T20I playing XI? While the former is consistent, he has a few holes in his batting and is yet to establish himself as dynamic enough for the modern T20 game. Kishan, meanwhile, is far from a finished product in the middle order, with strike rotation being one of his many problems.
Tilak Varma and Jitesh Sharma, on paper at least, do not have these drawbacks. Both players are assured against both pace and spin, and the former even offers an additional bowling option. Tilak could become an incredible asset at No. 3, while Jitesh is certainly more suited to the middle order than Kishan.
This is unlikely to happen, but Tilak and Jitesh might be better options than Shreyas and Kishan, given the current composition of India's T20I side.
Rinku Singh has fast become an incredible finisher for the Men in Blue and is almost a lock at No. 6.
All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar are the only two all-rounders in India's squad for the South Africa T20I series. The former's batting form has let him down often lately, but he is still an excellent option owing to his bowling, which has gone from strength to strength. Had Axar Patel been picked, the case may have been different.
Bowlers: Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar
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India are a touch short on fast bowlers, with Deepak Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj and Mukesh Kumar being their only options. Arshdeep has struggled for form, and the left-armer should be the one to sit out against South Africa.
Meanwhile, in the spin-bowling department, Kuldeep Yadav should be ahead of Ravi Bishnoi despite the latter's impressive performances in the last two T20Is against Australia. Kuldeep is in the best bowling form of his life and has been a genuine match-winner for India in white-ball cricket over the last year.