FANTASY
Follow UsIt was as convincing as it could get. Arshdeep Singh and Deepak Chahar made the new ball talk in Thiruvananthapuram to reduce South Africa to 9/5 inside three overs, before KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav made short work of the run-chase to hand India a comprehensive victory. Even though India are reeling with the possibility of losing Jasprit Bumrah for the impending T20 World Cup in Australia, they will go into the Guwahati encounter with a lot of confidence and belief to close the series with a game to go.
Ground details
The Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati has hosted a total of 43 T20 matches in its history, with batters striking at a nominal run-rate of 6.8 runs per over. That doesn’t paint a rosy picture for the batters, does it? In the powerplay, batters score at a run-rate of just 6 with a whopping dot ball percentage of 52.5%. A ball per boundary rate of 8.5 means bowlers will have a fun evening like in Thiruvananthapuram.
In 80 innings, the average batting first score at the Barsapara Stadium comes down to 129 runs per innings, pretty mediocre by any standards imaginable. Perhaps, that is because of the fact that there is no top flight cricket at the venue, apart from Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, which can be examined during the second T20I on Sunday.
Pacers and spinners have been equally impactful at the venue, having taken 51.5% and 48.5% of the wickets respectively. From all possible parameters - average, strike rate, and wickets per innings - both sets of bowlers have had almost identical numbers. Hence, you can have an equal number of bowlers from both ends.
Suggested Team
While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your team from Cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. You can use this tool to build your team with the help of algorithms. Then, based on your preferences, the platform will guide you through creating the ideal fantasy XI.
Captaincy suggestions
For Small Leagues : Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain)
For Grand Leagues: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Virat Kohli (Vice-Captain)
Stats that matter
- In 2022, Surya Kumar Yadav has already scored 732 runs at an average of 40.7 and a whopping strike rate of 180.3. Among Indian batters, he is the first to score 700+ runs in a calendar year of T20Is. Overall, his tally of 732 is the fourth best for a batter.
- Tabraiz Shamsi, across the five T20Is he’s played against India this year, has been an utter liability. In 12.5 overs that he has bowled this year, the No.2 ranked bowler in T20Is has conceded 129 runs with only a solitary wicket to his name and an economy rate of 10.18. For Shamsi, it’s been a horror show every time he’s come up against India this year.
Grand league punts
- In 47 T20 matches this year, David Miller averages 44.79 in 2022 at a terrific strike rate of 143.5. In 16 matches for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League earlier this year, Miller amassed 481 runs at an average of 68.71 with a strike rate of 142.7. He ought to be in our XI, no matter what happened in the last game.
- Suryakumar Yadav averages 41.4 in 29 matches this season - the second-highest that he has averaged in any calendar year (in 2019 he averaged 43.56) - and 24 runs away from completing 1000 runs in T20Is. Once he achieves the landmark, he will be the third quickest Indian to get there.
Here are the top-10 Criclytics suggestions
Probable XIs
India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rilee Rossouw, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi
