SERIES REVIEW
Follow UsIt is not often that you see teams field an unchanged XI for the entirety of a five-match series. In fact, prior to Sunday, no team in history had gone unchanged across five games in a bilateral T20I series. But such was the clarity of thought in the Indian management’s mind, and such was the faith they had in their own decision-making, that they unequivocally backed the 11 players they picked in the very first game.
It meant that we did not get the chance to look at the reserves — the Arshdeeps, Umrans and the Hoodas — but what it has done is given us the golden opportunity to extensively examine those primed to fly to Australia — either as starters or, at the very least, squad members.
Ishan Kishan
Performance: 206 runs @ avg 41.20 and SR 150.36
Grade: A
Remember the Ishan Kishan of IPL 2020? The one that glued us all to our seats and just made the experience of watching cricket so much more enjoyable? For a good 12 months, that pocket dynamite was nowhere to be seen. Sure, he got runs every now and then. But that chutzpah about his batting was simply not there.
The Kishan that batted against South Africa, though, felt like the Kishan of IPL 2020. Every game he walked out with one intention and one intention only, which was to throw the kitchen sink from ball one and flay the bowlers. In the preceding months, for both India and MI, the southpaw looked uncharacteristically dazed and shackled, but here he deployed all-out aggression that rattled the Proteas.
He was ultra-aggressive at the start of his innings (SR of 148.7 in first 8 balls) and he specifically mercilessly hammered the spinners, striking at 233.33 against them, quite ludicrously scoring 91 off 39 balls.
Kishan ended up scoring 88 more runs than any other batter in the series, but the biggest positive is that he’s seemed to have finally unchained the beast version of himself that ruined attacks two years ago.
Ruturaj Gaikwad
Performance: 96 runs @ 19.20 and SR 131.50
Grade: D
Ruturaj Gaikwad is among the few Indian players who had a series to forget. The right-hander was not able to make use of the rare extended run, and fell too cheaply far too often. We know spin is where Gaikwad’s strength lies, but against South Africa, the right-hander did not even manage to see off the pacers: barring the fifty in Vizag, Gaikwad perished inside 7 overs on every occasion, falling all four times to the quicker bowlers.
8 games on, Gaikwad has not been able to kick-start his T20I career, yet. He’s done his T20WC chances no good through his showing versus the Proteas.
Shreyas Iyer
Performance: 94 runs @ 23.50 and SR 123.68
Grade: D
So, here’s a loose summary of how Shreyas Iyer’s series went: everytime he faced spin he batted like peak Virender Sehwag, but everytime Iyer was up against the pacers he looked like a rookie that had never previously played top-flight cricket.
52 runs in 27 balls against spin; 42 runs off 49 balls against pace.
There’s both good and bad in this. The ‘good’ is that he’s clearly shown that he can be a proper spin destructor. He hit a six every 4.5 balls and absolutely smashed Tabraiz Shamsi, the third-ranked bowler in the world, to smithereens. Genuinely impressive stuff.
The ‘bad’ is that you can’t be a No.3 in international T20 cricket and be scoring at 85 against pacers. 3 fours in 49 balls, with a control percentage of 71.4% in modern-day T20 cricket? Ooof, that’s alarming.
Looking at Iyer’s performance in the series, overall, it has to be said that the ‘bad’ outweighs the ‘good’, and by some margin.
Rishabh Pant
Performance: 58 runs @ 14.50 and SR 105.45
Grade: E
Taking batting as the only metric, Rishabh Pant convincingly turned out to be the worst player across both sides in the series. He began well with a brisk 29 (16) in Delhi but then ended the series with scores of 5, 6 and 17, proving to be neither destructive nor reliable.
All series, it was far too easy for the Proteas to get Pant. All they did was throw the ball wide in the hope that the southpaw would shank one, and thrice Pant fell for the trap.
What’s concerning is that this has now become a pattern: since IPL 2022, there have already been 10 instances of Pant falling to balls aimed at 9th/10th stump.
We talked about Ruturaj’s T20I career having not taken off yet, but what about Pant? 42 innings in, he’s averaging 23.15 and striking at 123.91, having barely played any noteworthy innings.
He will still, in all likelihood, make it to the World Cup, but Pant’s non-existent form in the shortest format is a huge cause for concern for India.
Hardik Pandya
Performance: 117 runs @ 58.50 and SR 153.94; 0 wickets @ ER 12.20
Grade: A
‘Can Hardik Pandya still be an able finisher?’ was the big question ahead of the series. Across the four innings he batted, Pandya showed that he can now be relied upon to do whatever the team requires; anchor or finish, based on the game situation.
In the three 30+ scores Pandya posted in the series, his entry points were 16.1, 13.4 and 6.1. Each situation was different and complex in its own way. In Delhi, he needed to bash from the get go; in Vizag he needed to build a mini-innings and finish; and in Rajkot, he needed to counter-punch.
On all three occasions, the right-hander gleefully accepted the challenge and passed each test with flying colours.
Prior to the series, there was debate over whether Pandya would make it to India’s strongest XI as a purer batter alone. It is fair to say that versus the Proteas, the 28-year-old did everything he could to settle the same.
That being said, Pandya disappointed big time with the ball, his 5 overs going for 61 runs. Come the Ireland and England games, the management would want him to ideally contribute much more with the ball, that too on a consistent basis.
Dinesh Karthik
Performance - 92 runs @ 46.00 and SR 158.62
Grade: A
Dinesh Karthik entered the series with plenty of hype, and boy he lived up to all expectations. DK whet the fans’ appetite in Cuttack, with an 18-run final over onslaught off Pretorius, and in Rajkot, he fully showed why, on current form, he is by some distance the best finisher in the country.
The concern surrounding DK prior to the series was his entry point and his ability to tackle spin, but across the series, the veteran showed that he can adapt if need be. In the two 30+ scores DK accumulated, he walked in to bat as early as the 13th over, meaning he had to a) construct an innings and b) contend with spin. He did both masterfully. In particular, the right-hander impressed against spin, scoring at 173 against the slower bowlers.
In a way, through his showing, DK has created a fresh selection headache by making himself close to undroppable. Going forward, it’d be fascinating to see how the management fit him in in the strongest XI.
Axar Patel
Performance: 3 wickets @ ER 8.25
Grade: C-
After a rough couple of matches, Axar Patel did well to bounce back in the third and fourth games, finishing with combined figures of 2/37 in 7.5 overs. The left-arm spinner is renowned for his ability to choke the batters in favorable conditions and in both Vizag and Rajkot, he did just that.
That being said, at the moment, going from Jadeja to Axar does feel like a pretty big downgrade. The latter is Jadeja’s designated back-up, but as an overall package, he simply does not bring enough x-factor with him.
Axar’s showing in this series, it can be said, has left the door wide open for both Ashwin and Sundar, and possibly even Krunal Pandya.
Harshal Patel
Performance: 7 wickets @ ER 7.23
Grade: A
He might have only played 13 T20Is in total, but Harshal Patel is already starting to give spearhead vibes. Against South Africa, he once again showed why he needs to be one of the first names in the teamsheet at the T20 World Cup.
We’ve seen Harshal excel in the middle overs and at the death — he did that in this series too — but against the Proteas, he nailed the task of bowling with the new ball too. Thrice Pant threw the ball to Harshal in the powerplay and the right-armer rose up to the task, registering figures of 3-0-16-2 in the phase ‘alien’ to him.
Pant, all series, utilized the right-armer like a weapon, and barring the forgettable outing in Delhi, Harshal gunned the Proteas batters down every single time.
It was evident even before the South Africa series, but it’s crystal clear now: India, finally, have a go-to man other than Jasprit Bumrah they can throw the ball to.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Performance: 6 wickets @ ER 6.07
Grade: A+
In a way, it’s genuinely funny to think that so many of us committed the heinous crime of writing off Bhuvneshwar Kumar a few months ago. Since the New Zealand series at home last year, he’s been getting better and better with every passing game and against South Africa, Bhuvneshwar arguably produced his best performance in an Indian shirt in years.
Series figures of 14-0-85-6 are in itself pretty outrageous. Then you look at what Bhuvneshwar did in the powerplay. 9 overs, 4 wickets, 32 runs, an economy of 3.6. Three. Point. Six. In a T20. That is preposterous.
None of the venues were tailor-made conditions for Bhuvi — there was barely any swing, and India also bowled second in all games — yet he ruled the batters through sheer consistency. In the powerplay, a mind-boggling 94.4% of the balls Bhuvi bowled landed on a ‘good’ length.
With there being a fair bit of variable bounce on every wicket, the South African batters stood no chance against him.
As things stand, Bhuvneshwar is going to be starting the T20 World Cup in Australia — and quite deservedly so.
Yuzvendra Chahal
Performance: 6 wickets @ ER 8.18
Grade: B
Like Axar Patel, it was pretty much a series of two halves for Yuzvendra Chahal. He got obliterated in the first two matches but then bounced back emphatically to finish with combined figures of 8-0-41-5 across the Rajkot and Vizag games.
In fact, it was Chahal’s spell in the third T20I that kick-started India’s resurgence in the series. At 40/2 in the 7th over, the Proteas were on course to chasing down 180, but then Chahal ran-through the entire middle-order to cripple the visitors and help the hosts roar back into the series. From there, neither he nor India looked back.
Something that’ll be worth keeping an eye on is how Chahal fares against the lefties in the forthcoming games in Ireland/England. Against South Africa, the 17 balls he bowled to the left-handers yielded 36 runs, with him not picking a single wicket.
Avesh Khan
Performance: 4 wickets @ ER 7.00
Grade: C
The primary beneficiary of Rahul Dravid’s ‘no chopping and changing’ policy, Avesh Khan gradually grew into the series and saved his best for the last, picking a fine four-fer in Rajkot.
The youngster struggled for rhythm at different points in the series, but, nevertheless, showcased in patches why he could be a weapon with the ball on any given day.
Avesh might not have picked as many wickets as he would have wanted, but it’s evident that the management rate him highly, have full faith in his abilities and see him as someone who could be a potential x-factor at the World Cup.
