In all likelihood, this match will decide the Group 2 topper and India’s probable semi-final venue.
WACA has been a traditional venue for many decades but now the newly constructed concrete jungle called Optus Stadium hosts international games.
While it looks like any other modern cricket stadium which is devoid of the old world charm of WACA, what both the grounds have in common is the spicy nature of its track and the good bounce on offer which can make life difficult for the batsmen. Is.
Against this backdrop, Rabada and Nortje, two of the most feared speed merchants in the world, are expected to pose some tough questions for Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav.
While Rabada will bowl full and get the ball into the seam and swing at 145 clicks, Nortje is expected to mix it at 150-plus pace with either back off length or hard length.
Both Rohit and Virat are excellent horizontal bat players and the powerplay overs will depend on how well the top-order’s hand-eye coordination works.
The extra pace off the track will split the batsmen into less time to react and it will be interesting to see what the Indian batsmen’s approach will be.
Will they start attacking with the word ‘go’ or as has been a trend in this T20 World Cup, play the first 10 overs carefully and take the attack back to the opposition during the back-10.
While left-hander Rishabh Pant with his audacious stroke-play would have been a good foil for Rohit at the top of the order, it is understood that head coach Rahul Dravid does not want to look beyond the out-off at the moment – Rahul’s form
Another option to include Pant is to drop Dinesh Karthik, who has been level-keeping in two matches.
The Netherlands game is not enough to tell how well the Indian team is prepared for the Proteas Test.
The last series between the two sides was played on the low bounce Indian belt, on which, hitting through the line and hitting the front foot was meat and drink for the batsmen.
As far as South Africa’s bowling combination is concerned, it would not be surprising if they drop left-arm wrist-spinner Tabrez Shamsi and include an extra seamer in either Marco Jensen or Lungi Ngidi.
The Indian team has played Shamsi comfortably in the past and two spinners in Optus can be a luxury unless they want to accelerate the over-rate.
It’s not fair to tinker with the winning combination, but with three in-form left-handers in South Africa’s top six, Quinton de Kock, Riley Rossouw and David Miller, Axar Patel’s recent match-ups are definitely the team combination. When discussing, we will focus on ,
Axar’s economy rate, bowling to the left-handed batsmen, is close to 9 runs per over and with Ravichandran Ashwin in the playing XI, it will be a cover for the left-arm spinner from Gujarat.
Also Hardik Pandya can bowl his full quota in that case unless India thinks of playing Yuzvendra Chahal instead of Axar.
But in such a situation, he will have to somehow bring left-handed Pant in the team instead of Rahul.
Also, being the only left-handed batsman in the side (besides Pant) is also an advantage for Axar.
The only problem with South Africa’s top order is its captain Temba Bavuma, whose game is not suited to the requirements of T20 cricket and looks completely out of place.
Although with two of the most exciting players in Tristan Stubbs and Rossouw, South Africa will have an impact on the Indian bowling attack, where only Mohammed Shami has the ability to bowl north at 140kmph.
Rossouw will go into the match back to back with the rarest T20 century (only France’s Gustave McConne is) and will be the biggest threat to the Indian bowlers.
Adelaide will be India’s semi-final destination if they beat South Africa on Sunday and then beat Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in the next two matches.
The group topper will play in Adelaide on November 10.
However, India could end up traveling to Sydney even after topping Group 2 if Australia finish as runners-up in Group 1 and advance to the semi-finals. Their definitive semi-final venue is due to a pre-tournament arrangement.
Squad:
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar , Deepak Hooda
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (capt), Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Riley Rossouw, Tristan Stubbs, Kagiso Rabada, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Tabrez Shamsi, Marco Janssen, Enrique Nortje, Reeza Hendrix, Henrik Klaasen, Lungi Ngidi
Match starts: 4:30 PM IST.
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