India ought to have activated emergency mode by now after conceding a 1-2 series lead to South Africa with an 18-run loss at Rajkot on Sunday. With the intention of avoiding missiles from critics and fans alike, the ‘Men in Blue’ have to give everything they have if they are to stop the rampaging Proteas from adding to their kitty the One-Day International (ODI) series as well. Amit Banerjee takes a look at some of the battles that are likely to take place in the fourth ODI at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday, October 22.
South Africa seem to have everything going for them at the moment. After wrapping the Twenty20 International (T20I) with two dominant wins and an abandoned match, the green jerseys have managed to grab the series lead in the ODI series as well after winning the third ODI at the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) Stadium in Rajkot. India, and especially limited-overs skipper MS Dhoni, have guns pointed at their heads at the moment, and will have to pull off something magical in the remainder of the series.
The limited-overs fixtures has seen some interesting battles between batsmen and bowlers from both sides. Given how crucial the fourth ODI will be, one can expect more such instances with greater intensity, which are listed below in no specific order of importance:
1. Shikhar Dhawan vs Morne Morkel: Dhawan is India’s mainstay for the opening slot across formats, and it would be crucial for the left-handed Delhiite to fire in the position from time to time in order to justify his occupancy of the position. The southpaw however, has failed to get big scores in the ‘Gandhi-Mandela’ series so far after getting off to promising starts.
Dhawan has fallen victim to lanky South African pacer Morne Morkel in all the three matches in the ODI series so far. While the one in the first ODI was a bit dubious, Dhawan fell victim to wrong shot selection in the next couple of games. Morkel will have the mental edge over Dhawan at the moment, and will look to make a bunny out of him in this tour.
2. Rohit Sharma vs Kagiso Rabada: It has been a brilliant series so far for both Rohit and Kagiso. While Rohit has slammed two centuries and a half-century in the T20Is and ODIs, Rabada’s attacking line and length, as well as his accuracy has helped him earn accolades from all quarters, with the likes of Sunil Gavaskar describing him as someone destined to scale dizzying heights in the future.
While Rohit has managed to pulverise the South African seamers in the opening overs with some magnificent strokes, especially Rabada, KG (as the young pacer is known by his team-mates) managed to hit back at the opener in style with a perfect yorker that uprooted Rohit’s stump in the second game at Indore. Perhaps the most intensely awaited clash in the next game.
3. AB de Villiers vs Indian spin trio: The South African ODI skipper has been the most destructive batsman for his side so far, a role that he often carries on his shoulders wherever he goes. Such has been AB’s impact, that he’s gained an enviable fanfare from the Indian crowd at the venues, with chants of ‘AB, AB’ ringing in the air during his innings. The right-handed batsman has been destructive against the entire Indian bowling department.
However, the likelihood of him falling victim to the Indian spin trio of Amit Mishra, Harbhajan Singh and Akshar Patel is higher than the others. This is validated by the fact that a spinner (Ravichandran Ashwin and Patel) has been involved on three out of the four occasions he was dismissed in.
4. Suresh Raina vs Imran Tahir: Raina and Tahir sitting at opposite ends judging by their forms in the ongoing series at the moment. While Tahir has so far excelled on suitable tracks, Raina’s form has gone from bad to worse with consecutive ducks in the last two games. Averaging a tragic three in the ongoing ODI series, Raina has to turn his fortunes around if he is to save his place in the side.
He will however, be wary of Tahir’s prowess, having fallen victim to the Pakistan-born leg-spinner thrice in the ongoing series so far. While Raina is known to have problems against short-pitched deliveries, which resulted in his dismissal to Morkel in the second one-dayer, he is starting to fall victim to spin as well, something which he is known to tackle well.
5. Faf du Plessis vs Akshar Patel: The South African T20I captain scored a valuable 60 in the previous game to help establish the base for South Africa’s competitive score of 270. He however, did face trouble for the most part in his innings, especially against Patel who nearly got him dismissed on a couple of occasions. Patel is undoubtedly Dhoni’s safest bet among the spinners, given his impressive performances in the series so far, and will look put an early end to Faf’s innings in the remaining games.
Write a comment
...
