India would hope that the challenging home assignment against South Africa, which has exposed a few chinks in their armour and raised difficult questions about selection, ends on a positive note when the two sides clash in the fifth and final T20 International here on Friday.
After being blanked 0-2 in the Tests, India bounced back to win the ODI series and now have an unassailable 2-1 lead in the T20I series after the fourth game was abandoned due to poor visibility in Lucknow on Wednesday.
That India cannot lose the series should be comforting for embattled head coach Gautam Gambhir, given that the other two leaders in the camp – skipper Suryakumar Yadav and his deputy Shubman Gill – are battling challenges of their own with less than two months to go for the T20 World Cup.
For someone who was ranked World No. 1 not so long ago, Suryakumar's form has sharply declined in the only format he is assured a place in the Playing XI for India. Having played 18 innings in 20 matches this year without a single half-century, while averaging a poor 14.20 for his 213 runs, every failure for Suryakumar is adding to the concerns of the Indian camp.
Adding to it is the Gill conundrum. Gill's return as vice-captain in the T20I format might have been perceived as something which put Suryakumar on notice a few months ago, but the former's ordinary run with the bat since his comeback and the latest injury setback only hampers the team's cause.
A toe injury suffered before the fourth T20I is set to keep Gill out of the final T20I here as India would want to take a cautious approach, more so when there is a ready replacement for the top-order slot in Sanju Samson.
Apart from this, India has a settled unit with both the all-rounders, Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube, featuring in all three games so far. In the pace attack, Arshdeep Singh is coming into his element and is also beginning to forge a partnership with Harshit Rana with the ball.
Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the third T20I due to personal reasons, joined the team's camp before the fourth match. A batting-friendly wicket here will pose a challenge to India's best bowler in the series, Varun Chakravarthy (six wickets).
For South Africa, who have blown hot and cold, particularly with the bat in the T20I series, Friday's contest will be an opportunity to end with the satisfaction of drawing a series against India. The Proteas could mull over bringing Aiden Markram back into the top order in place of Reeza Hendricks, who hasn't found his rhythm on this tour.
But at the same time, the visitors would also want the young and dangerous Dewald Brevis to find his form after having ordinary outings in each of the three completed matches in the series. South Africa has also missed aggressive knocks from Marco Jansen, which made the ODI series such a tightly contested affair, but to their credit, Lungi Ngidi and Ottneil Baartman have done a fair job with the ball.
The match will start at 7 pm IST.
Also read: Pressure piling on Surya as India eye series win
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