Pressure on Pant

Stand-in skipper Rishabh will have a point to prove in second T20I against South Africa today after loss in Game 1 at New Delhi

Accidental captain Rishabh Pant will expect an improved showing from the India bowlers as he plots a comeback against a marauding South Africa in the second T20I of the five-match series here on Sunday.

Leading India for the first time, Pant had to swallow a bitter pill when David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen shot down an imposing 212 with utmost nonchalance to go up 1-0 in the series.

The southpaw also had a forgettable Indian Premier League (IPL) where he failed to lead Delhi Capitals to the playoffs.

Seen as a future white-ball captain, Pant’s stakes have suddenly come down post-IPL and that has coincided with the resurgence of Hardik Pandya.

Returning to full fitness, the pace bowling all-rounder took the IPL by storm not only by his form, but by pulling off a coup as he led Gujarat Titans to the title in their debut season.

Amid the growing chorus of Hardik—the next white-ball captain of India, Pant will be under scrutiny again as he masterminds a comeback.

It may still be early days for Pant the leader, but his body language never stood out and he looked under pressure on his captaincy debut.

Debatable decision

He also made a debatable decision to underbowl the IPL Purple Cap winner Yuzvendra Chahal, fresh from claiming 27 wickets for runners-up Rajasthan Royals. At the Kotla, the leggie bowled only two full overs.

As for Pandya, fresh after his historic success with GT, continued from where he left in the IPL.

Pandya, who last played for India in November last year in the 2021 T20 World Cup, dazzled with the bat with 31 not out from 12 balls to prop the total past 200.

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But he failed to impress with the ball and leaked 18 runs in his only over. The big headache for Pant would be the bowling department where he would have to make a call between Arshdeep Singh and pace gun Umran Malik.

Bowlers need to come good

While the batting looks in perfect shape, the new-look pace department looked flat in the series opener.

Senior-most Bhuvneshwar Kumar did not look the same bowler and leaked runs in the death overs, while Harshal Patel too was taken to the cleaners.

Youngster Avesh Khan too failed to impress, though he was the most economical among the trio.

It would not be an easy task as another slip-up would mean the Pant-led side would have the difficult task of winning three games in a row.

Fresh from their individual players’ success in the IPL, the Proteas are finding themselves at ‘home’.

Unstoppable Miller

In the form of his life, Miller who scored 481 runs at 68.71 in the IPL to play a key role in GT’s triumph, has started in ominous fashion and looked unstoppable both against spin and pace at the Kotla.

Quinton de Kock failed to convert his start, but the Lucknow Super Giants batter also scored a bagful of runs (508) in the IPL and he would look to make it count here.

With Van der Dussen also striking it rich, the trio will form the batting backbone, while the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje would look to stop the Indians.

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