South Africa’s limited-overs skipper Temba Bavuma expects a tough fight from a new-look Indian side in the upcoming five-match T20I series, starting on June 9 with the first T20I in Delhi.
Team India will be without many senior cricketers like skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah, but Bavuma insisted that South Africa can’t take the KL Rahul-led Indian team lightly in the upcoming T20I series, saying the Indian fighting spirit will still be there.
Bavuma said during a virtual media interaction: “It’s obviously a new-look Indian side. A lot of guys who have done well in the recent IPL have been given opportunities. From us, as a team, we wouldn’t be looking at it any differently. We don’t really see it as taking on a B’ side. We have played against the Indian T20 side. So, going into the game, we’ll still be as motivated as ever. The competitiveness will be there.”
He continued, “The attitude, the mindset of the Indian team, in the last couple of years, has changed. It’s guys who play cricket hard, who play very competitively. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are not there but the Indian fighting spirit will still be there. We don’t expect them to take it easy on us. We don’t expect it to be easy on us. We still expect it to be tough, and we’ll be approaching it in that manner.”
India’s star spinners, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, will be seen in action in the T20I series, and Bavuma admitted that the spin will be a big threat for the touring side.
Speaking on the duo, Bavuma said: “It will be a challenge. We’ve played against them a couple of times, and one hopes that we have a better understanding of conditions here in India. The guys are individually speaking about them. They have individual ways of approaching spin and how they can be successful. For the younger guys, it’ll be important how the others share that knowledge.”
He concluded, “The way that we played slow bowling over the last 18 months or so as a group gives us a lot of confidence and belief that we can dominate spin bowling and different types of bowling.”
(With PTI Inputs)
