India vs South Africa 2019: 3 Indian players who must perform in the T20I series
India will host South Africa in the first T20I of the three-match series at the HPCA stadium Dharamsala. Both the teams possess a blend of very experienced players and fresh faces, who will all be eager to make a mark.
The Men in Blue won their most recent T20 series quite convincingly against the two-time World Champions West Indies in the Caribbean Islands as they whitewashed the hosts 3-0. However, despite a good showing, there are still some question marks over the form and presence of a few players in the team and with a whole lot of youngsters waiting in the wings for a chance in the side, the pressure will be on certain players to make a mark.
In light of upcoming India vs South Africa T20I series, let's have a look at four players who will need to justify their selection in the side.
#3 Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant made his debut in in 2017 against England. In just three years of cricket at the highest level, Pant has become a very familiar name in the Indian team. He is now representing the country in all the formats of the game.
In Test cricket, Pant has made his mark with a century each in England and Australia. But his LOI career seems to be going wayward at the moment. He seems to be struggling to find his feet and has more than often thrown his wicket away.
In the recent tour of West Indies, MS Dhoni made himself unavailable which saw Rishabh Pant slot into the wicket-keeper's role in all three formats. This was a golden opportunity to seal his place in the middle order in shorter formats but he failed to impress. He averaged 34.5, 10 and 19.33 in the T20, ODI and Test series of the Caribbean tour.
The 21-year-old played a good inning of 65* in his last T20I against West Indies but in the previous matches, he threw away his wickets very cheaply. Given his credentials in the shortest format, Pant will be keen on putting up a couple of good performances.
Also see – World Test Championship Schedule