India will look to create history on 9th June by winning 13 consecutive T20I matches. Will India win the series? In this India vs South Africa prediction analysis, let’s find out by taking one department at a time.
1. batting department
India- KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Dinesh Karthik.
South Africa- Quinton De Kock, David Miller, Temba Bavuma, Rassie Van Der Dussen, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Tristan Stubbs.
India despite missing big guns like Virat, Rohit, and SKY has a lethal batting contingent. The onus will definitely lie on captain KL Rahul who can play through the innings allowing the likes of Ishan, Pant, Shreyas, and DK to play their natural free-flowing game. Expect some huge totals from India!
South Africa will like to bank on the wealth of experience that Quinton and Miller have to offer plus hope that Rassie unlocks his true potential and Bavuma plays the anchor role to perfection. Other than the duo of Quinton and Miller, no one in that batting department has played a considerable amount of matches in India and hence is a bit short experience-wise.
Comparing both India and South Africa in their respective batting departments, India is clearly the stronger side, and so in our India vs South Africa prediction, India wins round 1.
Score– India- (8.5/10) South Africa- (7.5/10)
2. Bowling Department
India- Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi.
South Africa- Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj.
For India, the duo of Bhuvneshwar and Harshal is going to be very vital, particularly at the death, also it will be interesting to see who will be the 3rd pacer. In the spin department, ‘Kulcha’ is back along with the young and promising Ravi Bishnoi. There is an element of question mark or uncertainty in the pace department but the spin department is sorted.
South Africa’s bowling is going to be their main strength as Rabada and Nortje bowling in tandem can wreak havoc plus they have the number 1 bowler in ICC T20I rankings in Tabraiz Shamsi who can pick wickets in the middle overs.
So round 2 of the India vs South Africa prediction analysis featuring the bowlers goes to South Africa as their bowling is deadlier comparatively.
Score- India (7.5/10) South Africa (8.5/10)
3. All Rounders Department
India- Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Axar Patel, Deepak Hooda.
South Africa- Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Dwaine Pretorius, Wayne Parnell
The return of Hardik Pandya is definitely the biggest positive for India as he can be a matchwinner any day. Other than him, one of Axar or Hooda is expected to play with no Jadeja in the team and also provide that extra bowling option. Hardik out and out holds the key here for India.
With the likes of Jansen and Pretorius, Proteas has added more depth and firepower to the bowling attack plus both are handy with the bat and hence will add to the batting lineup allowing the top-order batsmen to play more freely. Expect Markram to be the key aggressor and a key matchwinner for the touring team.
Comparing both, Hardik is the only out and out big name for India whereas South Africa, has plenty of variety and options which makes up for the little bit of short in experience when it comes to allrounders and hence the final round too in this India vs South Africa prediction analysis goes in favor of South Africa.
Score- India- (7.5/10) South Africa- (8/10)
final Verdict
So, here India finishes with a score of (23.5/30) and South Africa with (24/30).
Without the likes of Virat, Rohit, Bumrah, and Jadeja, the South African team does look like a better team and has a slight edge over India going into this series and will start as slight favorites but definitely expect a very closely fought contest. It is mainly going to be the contest between India’s batters and South Africa’s bowlers and the one who prevails will definitely dictate the score-line of the series.
This series will also answer a lot of questions when it comes to squads of India and South for the upcoming ICC T20I World Cup.
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