Once again the focus will be on India's top-order batters in the in the all-important T20 World Cup clash against South Africa in Perth on blockbuster Sunday (October 30).
Barring KL Rahul, Indian batters look settled and has rose to the occasions so far. Rahul miserably failed in both the matches that India played so far in their Super-12 ties.
In the match against Pakistan the star batter could only manage to score 4 off 8 and then followed it up with a lacklustre 9 off 12 against Netherlands, however India won on both occasions.
Meanwhile, amid the speculations to drop the 30-year-old, India's batting coach Vikram Rathour threw his weight behind Rahul. Rathour doesn't find a reason big enough "sample size" to drop him and include Rishabh Pant at the top of the order.
While Pant has shown a lot of intent as Rohit Sharma's opening partner in the brief chances that he has got, Rathour made it clear that the talented Rourkee man will have to wait for now.
"No. We aren't really not thinking about that," Rathour dismissed the idea of Pant's inclusion for the time being on the eve of India-South Africa clash.
"I don't think that's a good enough sample size anyway. He's been batting really well and also batted well in practice games. So we aren't changing anything," he was categorical in his reply.
While Pant is an absolute match winner, it is difficult to fit in both Dinesh Karthik and him in same playing XI. Also with team roping in Karthik for a specific role, there is no chance that the 37 year old will be kept out of the playing XI.
"Only 11 can play unfortunately and I know and understand Rishabh is a fantastic player and we know he can be destructive against any opposition," said Rathour.
While Rathour wanted to soften the blow but it was clear they are not even thinking about Pant.
"The message to him is be ready and your chance might come anytime. He should be mentally and physically ready. He is doing that and you might have seen him practicing regularly.
"I am sure he will be ready whenever opportunity comes," Rathour's words sounded a bit hollow if one tried to read between the lines.
When asked about why Rahul has a tempered approach in the Powerplay compared to Rohit Sharma, he did admit that once he is back in form, things will change.
"Every player has his own way of playing and constituting their innings. A good partnership is one where each one complement each other. If Rahul is in good form then he can also be the aggressor," the former Punjab stalwart added.
He also said that there is no conscious pattern to Virat Kohli's approach.
"Not really. It depends on conditions and we pride on being a team that adapts to conditions. He (Kohli) is a good enough to change his game as per conditions. He has done that brilliantly and we expect him to keep doing that," he stated.
The batting coach also feels that in this World Cup, there won't be too many 200 plus scores.
"Playing with intent is the goal. Looking to score runs but we are looking to adapt as well as per conditions. I don't think these are 200 plus wickets so we will need to adapt," Rathour said.
Head-to-Head Stats
In the shortest format of the game, India and South Africa have squared off 23 times. The Indian squad has a little edge in this situation since they have won 13 of the 23 games.
Perth Weather Forecast
IND vs SA: Perth Weather Forecast: Rain has so far caused a handful of World Cup games to be called off. The venue of the India vs. South Africa game is Optus Stadium in Perth. The skies have been covered by rain for the past few days. The weather will be overcast and gloomy.
Perth Pitch Report
Perth has one of the fastest surfaces in the world, which offers dependable support for the pacers. This is a great pitch to bat as well. The batters will be able to play and time their shots here due to the true bounce on this track. 167 runs are scored here in the first inning on average, and with a quicker outfield, the runs will flow. After winning the toss at this v
India's squad for T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Hooda
South Africa's squad for T20 World Cup: Temba Bavuma (captain), Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Rilee Rossouw, Tristan Stubbs, Kagiso Rabada, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Marco Jansen, Anrich Nortje, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Lungi Ngidi
