India vs South Africa | Sunil Gavaskar believes Yuzvendra Chahal will play key role in Centurion
BCCI
Sunil Gavaskar has predicted that Yuzvendra Chahal will play a crucial role in the second T20I of the series as the Centurion pitch is expected to offer help for the spinners. The former Indian cricketer has hoped that the visitors will continue their exploits in the upcoming games of the series.
In the first T20I game of the series, Bhuvneshwar Kumar won the Man of the Match award for his brilliant bowling performance as he registered career-best stats by claiming five wickets in four overs and conceded only 24 runs. In the game, Chahal couldn't do much with the ball and claimed only one wicket while conceding 39 runs, a rare failure for the leggie in the recent past. However, Gavaskar hopes that the wrist-spinner will provide a good performance in the second T20I game in Centurion, which has recently become famous for its turning nature.
“The Centurion pitch will help the spinners a little more as was seen in the last one-day game last week, so Chahal will be a key bowler again in the middle overs. Virat Kohli had left the field with a niggle so hopefully he will be fully fit to pile on the misery once again for South Africans,” Gavaskar wrote for TOI.
“Chasing over 10 runs an over is a Herculean task for any team but was made even more mountainous by the tight opening spell from Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah. Though Hendricks and Behardien had a good partnership they didn't have the finishing power and India won with plenty to spare.”
The Indian side showed dominant performance in the ODI series which helped them hand a 5-1 loss to South Africa. The Men in Blue maintained that momentum in the shortest format of the game as they won the first game by 28 runs in Johannesburg. The team offered an
“The Indian team continues to exert its dominance over the harried South Africans and their power-packed display in the first T20 game will have made the Proteas scratch their heads
“Having an inexperienced new ball attack didn't help as the Proteas didn't know what hit them as Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan got the team off to a flying start. Virat Kohli then showed he can play the aerial shots as well clobber the ball into the stands. It was breathtaking stuff and it was
Along with the men’s team, Indian women’s team are also playing in South Africa and after registering a 2-1 ODI series victory, Indian women’s side started their T20I campaign on a winning note by winning the first two matches by 7 and 9 wickets respectively. However, the 2017 World Cup finalist faced a defeat in the third T20I in Johannesburg despite captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s 48-run knock and a useful 38 by Smiriti Mandhana. While praising the duo's performance, Gavaskar pointed out that other batswomen don't need to play careless shots after a good start.
“Earlier, the Indian women let the South Africans back into the game with some thoughtless batting after the wonderful start from Smriti Mandhana and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur. In any sport, it is crucial to recognise
“Still player after player went for the big hits and got out, thus squandering the wonderful start that Harmanpreet and Mandhana had given them. They didn't even bat the full quota of overs about which the coach would have had a word or two with them at the end of the match.”
