New Delhi: After India won the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup, there has been a marked change in the side’s batting approach. With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli saying goodbye to the format and many first-choice players rested to play Tests, the batters have been as pacy as a Ferrari car when batting in T20Is.
India comes into the series against South Africa on the back of posting a mind-boggling 297/6 against Bangladesh in Hyderabad, the highest score by a full member nation in T20Is. Robin Uthappa, who won the 2007 Men’s T20 World Cup title with the Indian team in South Africa, believes the young batting group will enjoy batting in the rainbow nation, starting from Kingsmead in Durban.
“As far as batting group in concerned, you have to see it’s a group of youngsters, and they’re still going to be able to find their feet. Durban is considered one of the fastest pitches in the world. So for them playing there will be an experience and I’m looking forward to seeing them get that experience.”
“They’ll enjoy themselves, as the guys enjoy the ball coming onto the bat and with pace on deliveries, they’ll really enjoy it there at Durban. The side boundaries are shorter, and if you’re bowling short, there is purchase for your shots going square of the wicket. If you’re good down the ground and you hit nicely in the V, the ball goes big in Durban,” said Uthappa, a JioCinema and Sports18 expert, to IANS in a select virtual interaction on Friday.
He also thinks South Africa will come hard at India in the series being played at their home, in what is also the first meeting between the two teams since the T20 World Cup final at Barbados in June.
“One of the challenges that they will experience is the fact that South Africa will be looking for a little bit of vengeance. After the T20 World Cup final loss, they’ve also had a pretty lean T20I series leading up to this series. They’ve had a 3-0 thumping against West Indies and drawn 1-1 against Ireland.”
“So they’ll really want to come hard at the Indians, as that’s something that they will look to do within their own backyard. They are without the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, but their youngsters are quite a handful, especially the young fast-bowling all-rounders.”
Left-arm pacer Yash Dayal comes into the series on a high after being one of the three retained players for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. Dayal was part of India’s squad for the Test series against Bangladesh in September, but did not get a game.
Uthappa feels Dayal’s journey to entering the Indian team has been a resilient one. “The way he’s come back after that, 30-run over versus KKR has been really, really good. He’s shown a lot of character. I can assure you that bowling for RCB at Bangalore is not an easy gig. A lot of people say it’s bowling there in Bangalore, but it is just not easy at all.”
“He’s actually done that fairly well for them in the past season, which is why he’s been retained by them. He’s been able to handle that pressure, and he’s shown a lot of character over the last 12-18 months.”
“So the India T20I call-up has been well deserved. He definitely deserves an opportunity. I’m someone who believes that you can never have too many left-hand fast-bowlers in your squad of 15-16. So, the more you have, the merrier it is, I believe.”
Another player who’s coming on a high is pace bowling all-rounder Ramandeep Singh, who’s retained by Kolkata Knight Riders. Ramandeep had a strike-rate of 201.61 in KKR’s IPL 2024 win and earned a reputation of being a handy seamer and gun fielder. He recently hit 64 not out for India A in the Emerging Men’s Asia Cup semi-final against Afghanistan A, though it didn’t take the side in the final.
“I would love for him to play actually. He’s one of the most exciting prospects we have seen in the recent past. He is a handy all-rounder, and his time in this IPL has been second to none as a finisher, where he struck at 200. He has played incredibly well when he has been asked to bowl. I am really excited to see him play in South Africa.”
“In KKR, he has come out there into his own and it was great to see. You can see that he is oozing confidence at this point in time. You want someone like when things are going well, and confidence is high, you want to blood them in. If you can blood someone like him in because of his confidence, if he bowls really well, then you get two all-rounders in the likes of him and Hardik Pandya which is gold to India at this point in time,” concluded Uthappa.
–IANS
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