Zaahier Adams
The Indian T20I squad arrived in South Africa yesterday filled with confidence ahead of the four-match series against the Proteas, which starts at Kingsmead in Durban on Friday.
None of the 15-man squad, which will be led by dynamic batter Suryakumar Yadav, were involved in the astounding 3-0 Test series defeat to New Zealand, which concluded yesterday in Mumbai. It was the first time in India’s history that the Test side was whitewashed in a home series that consisted of three or more matches.
Instead, Yadav’s squad is primarily made of young stars that have carved out their careers in the high-profile Indian Premier League. Their potential and long-term value was certainly substantiated this past week.
After weeks of speculation, the 10 IPL teams recently issued their retention lists ahead of the new season. The current group are certainly the future of Indian cricket with 10 of the 15 tourists being retained.
Captain Yadav leads the list with the 360-degree batter being retained by Mumbai Indians. Yadav will be joined by his fellow two retained Mumbai Indians teammates Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma on this tour of South Africa.
Young all-rounder Abhishek Sharma has also been retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad and will come up against fellow Sunrisers retainee Heinrich Klaasen, who is also back in a Proteas shirt for the first time since the ill-fated T20 World Cup final against India in Barbados back in July.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad shelved out a record $2.73-million (R48.2-million) to re-sign the hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batter with Klaasen’s amount eclipsing Indian superstar Virat Kohli’s previous record of $2.05.m.
All-rounder Axar Patel has also been retained by the Delhi Capitals, who have also opted to keep Proteas rising star Tristan Stubbs for approximately R20m. Stubbs certainly has plenty of reasons to celebrate of late after scoring his maiden Test century in Bangladesh last week.
Last season’s IPL winners Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy and Ramandeep Singh have all been retained by the Kolkata Knight Riders and the trio will certainly hope to transfer their franchise success to the international stage on this tour.
Singh’s T20I record is astounding, having played 26 matches, scoring 479 runs at an average of 59.87, at a strike-rate of 175.45. The 27-year-old also has previous experience of playing in South Africa, having played two ODI’s in Gqeberha and Paarl last year.
Promising leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi has also been retained by the Lucknow Super Giants and will be keen to show that he can form part of India’s spin plans post Ravindra Jadeja’s T20I retirement.
Rajasthan Royals have also kept faith in their skipper Sanju Samson who will return for his 11th IPL season at the Jaipur-based franchise. Samson is certainly ready to form part of India’s regular batting unit after striking a maiden T20I century off just 40 balls against Bangladesh in Hyderabad recently.
Samson also tasted South Africans conditions last year and found it much to his liking after putting together a superb 108 off 114 balls in the ODI series decider at Boland Park.
Klaasen and Stubbs were the only Proteas to be retained across the 10 IPL squads for next year.
FULL INDIA T20I SQUAD: Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal.