"Iyer my friend, please be on fire" - Aakash Chopra makes his predictions for the 5th India vs South Africa T20I
Aakash Chopra expects Shreyas Iyer to be amongst the runs in the fifth and final T20I between Team India and South Africa, which will be played in Bengaluru on Sunday, June 19.
The two sides head into the game with all to play for, with the series evenly poised at 2-2. Shreyas will hope to make a significant contribution before he leaves for England to join the Indian Test side.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra predicted that Ishan Kishan and Shreyas will make decent contributions with the bat. He observed:
"Ishan and Iyer will together score more than 55 runs, that's what I feel. Iyer my friend, please be on fire. Please score runs today, I feel the guy will score runs."
The former Indian opener expects Quinton de Kock to be South Africa's star performer with the bat. Chopra reasoned:
"Quinton de Kock will be South Africa's highest run-scorer in this match because the strings of their success are tied to Quinton. In the last match, he gave up, didn't run at all, why - I don't know."
De Kock has scored 36 runs in the two T20Is he has played in the series thus far. The Proteas wicketkeeper-batter missed the second and third games due to injury and was run out in the last match after a mix-up with Dwaine Pretorius.
"More than 18 sixes will be hit" - Aakash Chopra
Chopra reckons plenty of maximums will be struck at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. He elaborated:
"More than 18 sixes will be hit, which means I feel that the pitch will be good. The truth is that although 211 runs were scored in the first match and were chased as well but the pitch disappointed me, I have not been very happy with the way the pitches have played. In fact, the Rajkot pitch was looking slightly dangerous, it was difficult to play on that."
The reputed commentator concluded by predicting an Indian win in the series decider. Chopra said:
"My prediction score is running 2-2, two have been right and two have been wrong. Today I am saying India to win. Even if Rishabh Pant loses his fifth consecutive toss, India will win this match as well as the series, that's what I feel."
The Men in Blue have never won a T20I series at home against the Proteas. They will hope to win the series and gain a slight psychological edge before the two sides meet again in the group stage of the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.
Also Read: "When it comes to fast bowlers bowling 140-plus, he has struggled a little" - Irfan Pathan on Shreyas Iyer's woes against pace