India vs South Africa 2019, last 2 T20Is: three Indian players to keep an eye on

#2 Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer.

Let us move down the batting order.

Shreyas Iyer is one of the most talented players in the Indian team. His ODI record (an average of 49.42, with four half-centuries in seven innings) certainly suggests rich promise.

Despite this, the 24-year-old was on fringes of the side for several years and never received a proper chance. But he has, after the recent tour of West Indies, Iyer has now cemented his place in the team.

During the second ODI at Port of Spain, Iyer batted smartly and scored 71 runs. He combined with Virat Kohli for a substantial partnership of 125 runs and paced his innings perfectly. His knock helped India post a total of 279-7, which was enough to secure a 59-run victory (via DLS method)

Iyer combined with skipper Virat for a match-winning century partnership in West Indies.

Iyer’s innings was decorated with sumptuous front-foot drives and audacious upper-cuts. One can expect similar innings’ against South Africa.

The right-hander is definitely a player to keep an eye on in the last two T20Is.

#1 Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma.

Batting looks ridiculously easy when Rohit Sharma is at the crease. He makes it look 2/10 on the difficulty scale when, in reality, it is 8 or 9.

A typical Sharma innings usually includes elegant cut and pull shots (he’s a strong short-ball player).

But in recent times the 32-year-old has shown he can keep the lid on his aggressive batting and concentrate to play a fighting innings. A good example is the World Cup 2019 group match versus South Africa.

South Africa batted first in the contest and scored 227-9 in their allotted 50 overs. Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan opened India’s reply and were forced to weather a hostile bowling spell from Kagiso Rabada. Dhawan was dismissed early, but Sharma motored on and even smashed the speedster for some sixes.

He was unbeaten on 122 at the end (India won by six wickets). Sharma will be very confident in the last two T20Is against the same opponents (after his recent success against them). If the visitors decide to pepper him with short balls, there may be carnage at Mohali and Bengaluru.