Rishabh Pant will lead India in the T20I series vs South Africa© BCCI
The five-match T20I series against South Africa, starting on Thursday, presents a great opportunity for the Indian cricket team management to experiment with a young line-up ahead of the 2022 T20 World Cup. With many seniors like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma being rested to keep them fresh for the England Tour in July, the Indian squad for the series against South Africa bears a fresh look. Players like Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda will be hoping to make an impact. Even comeback man Dinesh Karthik would aim to make the most of this chance.
The first match of the series is also a great opportunity for the Indian cricket team to set a world record. India are currently tied with Afghanistan and Romania for the longest T20I winning streak of 12 matches. Afghanistan was the first team to win 12 straight T20Is from February 2018 to September 2019. Then, cricket minnows Romania equalled the feat with a winning run that started from October 2020 till September 2021.
India’s winning streak started in the 2021 T20 World Cup where they beat Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia in successive matches. Then, under Rohit Sharma, India clinched three consecutive series against New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka – all with 3-0 margin. Now, if India can defeat South Africa in the first T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, it will be the side’s 13th win on the trot – a new world record.
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However, Indian cricket team head coach Rahul Dravid is not regarding too much into the record. “Honestly, we have not thought about the record. We are not really paying attention to the record. It is nice to win games. But for me, a lot of this is about not worrying about creating records or numbers. We want to win every game we play. We want to prepare and practice well and get to the field with our tactics right and try executing them. If it happens, it is great,” Dravid said in a press conference on Tuesday.
(The match will be telecast on the Star Sports network and can be live streamed on Disney+ Hotstar)
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