India-South Africa T20I series: India looking to seal the deal
Rinku Singh’s batting slot and circumspect approach must be a cause of concern for the India team going into the deciding fourth T20I against South Africa as the side aims for another bilateral series victory here Friday.
Centuries by Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma on either side of an inept batting performance has kept India’s nose ahead in the series and the team would want a more collective batting effort to clinch it 3-1.
The Wanderers ‘Bull Ring’ has always been a happy hunting ground for India, where they won the 2007 T20 World Cup final against Pakistan.
Even during the previous T20I series a year back, skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s last international hundred came at this very stadium and that too in a winning cause.
The Indian captain, who enjoys a staggering victory percentage of 81.25 having come up trumps in 13 out of the 16 matches, would like to do one better compared to the last series in the Rainbow Nation which had ended in a 1-1 draw with one game being washed out.
Rinku has suddenly gone off the boil in the past few months, the reasons for which aren’t exactly clear and it wouldn’t be lost on the skipper and interim head coach VVS Laxman.
On the face of it, it seems that his batting position and use as a floater at No. 6 and 7 isn’t helping the Aligarh man’s cause.
The next T20 World Cup in India is still some distance away in 2026 and Surya, as a skipper, has enough time to dissect and put things back on track for the man, who is too precious to be lost due to lack of clarity. In the current series, Rinku has managed just 28 runs. Scores of 11, 9 and 8 shouldn’t be taken in isolation looking at where he is coming in to bat but when the number of balls (34) he has taken to the score runs is taken into consideration, it becomes worrisome.
Most of Rinku’s better efforts have come when he has batted at No. 5 but in a line-up where Sanju Samson is settling as an opener and Tilak Varma has staked claim as a No. 3, it might be difficult for Rinku to be promoted ahead of Hardik Pandya. It is an issue that the team think-tank would do better to solve at earliest.
India have used 12 out of their 15 players in the first three games and it would be interesting to see if one among the two uncapped pacers, Yash Dayal and Vysakh Vijaykumar, gets a debut cap in case the
pitch warrants an extra specialist speedster. In the final game, it wouldn’t be a bad option for skipper Surya to check Ramandeep Singh’s steady medium pace as he can be an asset with multiple skills.
Wanted to repay Surya’s faith: Tilak
When Suryakumar knocked on Varma’s hotel room door to inform that he will bat at No. 3 in the third T20I, the talented left-hander was filled with gratitude and promised his skipper that he wouldn’t let him down.
Once he reached his 51-ball-century, Varma pointed towards the dug-out and blew a flying kiss to acknowledge his captain, who sacrificed his own batting position for the youngster. “It was for ‘SKY’ because he gave me a chance to bat at No. 3,” Varma said.
“I love batting at No. 3, but in last two matches, I played at No. 4. He came to my room and said that I will bat at No. 3 and that I should express myself,” he added.
Varma added 107 runs with another youngster Abhishek Sharma, who scored a half-century after string of failures.
