3 reasons why India must field an unchanged playing 11 for 3rd T20I vs South Africa

Team India will take on South Africa in the third and final T20I of the three-match series at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Thursday.

It is a must-win game for the Men in Blue after they were hammered by five wickets [via the DLS method] in the second T20I at St George's Park in Gqeberha. The first T20I at Kingsmead in Durban was abandoned due to rain without a ball being bowled.

Sent into bat after losing the toss, Team India posted 180/7 in 19.3 overs when rain stopped play and the innings could not resume. When the weather cleared up and conditions were declared fit to play, South Africa were set a revised target of 152 in 15 overs. They came up with a very good effort in the chase and got home in 13.5 overs.

As India and the Proteas prepare to lock horns in the third T20I in Johannesburg on Thursday, we analyze three reasons why the visitors must field an unchanged playing XI.

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#1 No point in chopping and changing for a must-win game

South Africa won the second T20I by five wickets. (Pic: AP)

Team India made some interesting choices for the second T20I in Gqeberha. They benched Shreyas Iyer, who had scored a half-century in his previous T20I clash against Australia, and was in supreme form in the ODI World Cup before that.

The visitors also did not pick leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who was the Player of the Series against Australia for claiming nine wickets in five matches at an average of 18.22. Bishnoi is incidentally also the No. 1-ranked bowler in the ICC T20I rankings.

As for the opening conundrum, it got sorted out automatically as Ruturaj Gaikwad was unavailable due to illness, paving the way for Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill to open the innings in the second T20I in Gqeberha.

While India’s team selection for the second T20I match was questioned by many, it won’t make sense to chop and change, particularly considering that the third T20I is a must-win game for India. For continuity sake, they must stick to the same XI.

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#2 Rain gave South Africa the upper hand in the 2nd T20I

Rain hampered the Men in Blue’s chances in Gqeberha. (Pic: AP)

If we talk about Indian bowlers, they did not get the best of conditions to bowl under. The outfield was a bit wet when India stepped out to bowl in the second innings of the match and there was no grip from the surface as well.

The South African openers got off to a flying start and although Team India made a good comeback, they were always playing catch up.

Indian batter Tilak Varma also admitted after the second T20I loss:

“Due to the wet outfield, the ball was not gripping as much as we thought.”

Given the conditions on offer, Indian bowlers did not get a chance to make much of an impact as the duo of Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram went berserk.

So one should avoid reading too much into their performance in the field from Gqeberha.

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#3 It will be fair to the Indian players

Indian players celebrate a wicket in the second T20I. (Pic: AP)

Whether Team India fielded the right team for the second T20I is highly debatable. However, making changes to the playing XI after just one innings would be unfair to the players.

Gill and Jaiswal cannot be dropped because they scored ducks in the last match. As for Varma, he did well at No. 3, contributing a quick-fire 29 with the Men in Blue under pressure after being asked to bat first.

Skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Rinku Singh, who slammed fifties in the last game, are automatic choices in the playing XI, while Jitesh Sharma had done well before failing in Gqeberha.

As for the Indian bowlers, as mentioned above, they were a bit unlucky with the conditions they got to bowl in during the second T20I.

Of course, it can be argued that Team India had no right to drop Bishnoi and Shreyas from the playing XI after their impressive showing at home against Australia.

But if they make changes to the team again for the do-or-die clash in Johannesburg on Thursday, it could be a case of one blunder followed by another.