In what would be a final dress rehearsal before the T20 World Cup in Australia next month, South Africa are all set to take on India in a three-match T20I series, starting September 28 in Thiruvananthapuram.
On the eve of the series opener, Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma addressed a press conference, where he acknowledged that facing the swinging ball in the powerplay will be one of the main challenges for his team in India.
"Facing the new ball bowlers (in India) is quite challenging, they make the ball to swing and move in quite a bit, a bit more than what we are accustomed to in South Africa. That's obviously a challenge you have to manoeuvre around," Bavuma told reporters.
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Indian pacers were found wanting in the recently held three-T20I series against Australia, which the hosts won thanks to their batting might.
During the course of the series, the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Harshal Patel were taken to the cleaners at various stages of the game.
The South African captain knows what it takes to succeed in India.
"The key is to limit the damage and not allow the wickets to fall and try and get the momentum going. But yeah, Bhuvi and Bumrah they always challenge you with the new ball up front," he added.
While Bhuvneshwar is rested for the series ahead of the T20 World Cup, the pace workload will be shared among Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Harshal, and Arshdeep Singh.
On the other hand, India's batting is looking in good shape with Virat Kohli's reclaiming his form and Rohit Sharma leading from the front.
"Obviously, those -- Rohit and Virat -- are big names with big pedigree behind them, and obviously as you saw in their last while their performances have boosted the confidence of the team.
"We expect to come leading from the front, and good for us to come up against the best. You expect those guys to bring a lot of confidence and X-factor into the team," Bavuma stated.
South Africa’s five-match T20I tour of India ended in a 2-2 draw earlier this year after rain played spoilsport in the decider in Bengaluru.
"The last time we were here we were tested, we were challenged, but I think we answered it quite well. We expect this to be a good series, a competitive one as well. This is the last series before the World Cup, we will be looking to fill up the gaps whatever they are," Bavuma remarked.
(With PTI inputs)
