The Indian side is ready to take on South Africa in the three-match T20I series beginning with the first match at the HPCA stadium in Dharamsala. The last time these two teams met at this ground in a T20I was in 2015 and South Africa chased down 199 runs, which wasted the effort of Rohit Sharma, who had made a century.
A lot has changed since then for the Indian team, as Virat Kohli has taken over from MS Dhoni as captain and India unearthed two brilliant spinners in Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, who bamboozled the Proteas in their own backyard in 2018, helping India triumph in the limited-overs series.
However, as evident from the World Cup 2019, both the wrist spinners were overexposed and failed to bring the magic that is usually associated with them and it resulted in them being rested for the West Indies T20I series and now the South Africa T20I series as well.
In the pre-match press conference in Dharamsala, captain Virat Kohli justified the duo’s omission from the squad. A major reason was that both the wrist spinners were duds with the bat in a format when teams are filling up their line-ups with batsman till no. 9 and 10.
"That was one of the reasons also to give opportunities to the guys who have done well in the domestic format and the T20 format and in the IPL also. So I think it's about finding the best balance that we can as a side and not necessarily stick to one kind of combination. If all teams across the world are batting till No. 9, 10, why can't we," the captain explained.
"So, you need to take those calls at one stage. Bringing those guys (Chahal and Kuldeep) at one stage was also not taken well by people. Look, whatever decisions are made, are to make sure that the team has the best and strongest balance that we can have approaching the T20 World Cup that we have next year," Kohli said.
Kohli also talked about the road map for the upcoming ICC World T20 2020 in Australia.
"As far as the road map is concerned, whenever there is a world tournament coming up, it is like a milestone and you start preparing from backward (back calculate matches). I think every team will go through the same process before T20 WC,” he said.
"These are opportunities where we can try various combinations with new people around -- check their ability, character, composure to perform at international level. From that point of view, it is exciting for a captain to try different players and check out combinations. We have all come through that process and I feel happy when I see these new faces emerging, trying to express themselves," Kohli concluded.
(PTI inputs)
