Focus on T20; Raina Returns
17 Feb 2018 4:29 PM GMT
Johannesburg: On a high after the demolition of South Africa in the ODIs, an upbeat India will be aiming to tighten the noose around the beleagured hosts when they square off in a three-match T20 series, starting here on Sunday.
Having created history by thrashing South Africa 5-1 in the ODI series, Virat Kohli and his men will be looking to carry the same momentum and intensity going into the shortest format, with veteran Suresh Raina under the spotlight as he makes a comeback into the national team after one year.
The defeat in the Test series now seems to be a story of a distant past and India will begin as overwhelming favourites with spin twins Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal ready to torment the opposition all over again.
India have fond memories of playing T20 cricket on South African soil as they won their first ever match in the shortest format in the Rainbow Nation back in 2006 followed by the historic World T20 triumph under Mahendra Singh Dhoni a year later.
Since the 2017 Champions Trophy, India have played 10 T20Is, winning seven of those matches. As such, they have a stable formula to rely on in the shortest format as well.
Raina, KL Rahul and Jaydev Unadkat are the new additions to the Indian contingent here for this T20 series. The trio had a two-hour net session at Centurion yesterday before the start of the sixth ODI. There is also an optional practice session scheduled today at the Wanderers.
In their last T20 engagement at home against Sri Lanka, Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were two key players who were rested. In their absence, the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj and Washington Sundar were able to get an outing on the international stage. Among the trio, only Iyer has made it to the current squad and it remains to be seen if he is included in the playing XI tomorrow.
The young batsman has had starts in the two ODIs he played at Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth, scoring 18 and 30.
His composure was more impressive than his run-tally though, never mind the dropped catches. Yet, he might lose out to the returning Raina, who is a particularly handy all-rounder in this format.
Raina's return is the most intriguing aspect of the T20 series from an Indian point of view. He hasn't played ODI cricket since 2015.
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