After making a dynamic return to the winning ways in Vizag, Rishabh Pant-led Team India aim to repeat the result in Rajkot on Friday. The Men in Blue will root for an equalizer when they lock horns with South Africa in the fourth T20I. The visitors have an upper hand as they lead the series 2-1 but for India, it’s going to be a do-or-die encounter.
After two straight losses at the beginning of the series, India bounced back with a 48-run win to trump the Proteas. The hosts played all the three games with the same XI and most likely, they will take the field unchanged at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
While fans are curious to see if speed sensation Umran Malik gets a game on Friday, former India wicketkeeper-batter Saba Karim feels that the team management won’t tinker with the pace attack.
During a discussion on India news, Karim said there’s a huge pressure on the coach and captain to win the series from here. Hence, he doesn’t see the think tank making any change to the bowling until there is any injury.
“The game in which Bhuvneshwar and Harshal Patel conceded more than 40 runs, Avesh gave away around 30-35. I would like to see every player in the squad getting a chance but the pressure of winning a series is so high on the coach and captain that they usually don’t for any change. The aim is to select a team that could win you the game; unless there is a forced change to the line-up due to an injury or any other reason,” Karim told India News.
“Rahul Dravid’s mentality has always been to ensure a player’s security in the team. Even if he’s resting a somebody, it happens after proper communication and a valid reason is given to him. But as of now, since the pressure of winning the series is high, I don’t see any change in the bowling unit,” he added.
However, Karim opined that the team may make a technical batting change and can try out Deepak Hooda in place of Shreyas Iyer.
I think, there could be 1 or 2 changes in the rest of the games. Since Shreyas Iyer isn’t named for the Ireland series, the team could try out Deepak Hooda at No. 3 as he is going to be a part of this team in future. Besides this, I don’t expect any major change.
Rahul Dravid won’t change the combination because the group had united and defeated South Africa. Bhuvneshwar is leading the pace attack very well and spinners have taken crucial wickets in the middle overs. India just need to win this game to keep the series alive.
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