cricket

Updated: Sep 15, 2019 12:51 IST

The Indian home season is all set to commence and with the next focus being the T20 World Cup, Virat Kohli and team need to put their best foot forward in order to take maximum advantage of all the 27 games which will be played between today and 2020 World Cup. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli remain the mainstays of the side and have to shoulder most of the batting responsibilities.

Rohit Sharma is a man in form and after his 5 centuries in the 2019 World Cup, the expectations will only go up. And there will be an added incentive when he marks his guard in the first T20I - he can become the leading run-scorer as an opener in the shortest format.

ALSO READ: 5 Proteas players Virat Kohli and Co should watch out for in the T20I series

New Zealand’s Martin Guptill currently tops the chart as he has scored 424 runs against Proteas in the format. Rohit has so far scored 340 runs against South Africa and if he manages to score at least 84 in the upcoming contest, he will snatch away the numero uno spot from Guptill.

However, South Africa do have the arsenal to negate Rohit. They can pick Junior Dala and unleash him on the Indian opener - The seamer has dismissed Rohit three times in seven balls in T20s.

The conditions could suit seam bowlers as the pitch has been under covers for quite a while now. Also, there are showers expected on Sunday which could force both sides to go in with seam-heavy attacks.

Indian captain Virat Kohli said that it was exciting to new guys expressing themselves on the field is exciting for a captain and team management. “Every time you are approaching a world tournament, you treat it as a milestone and start preparing backwards. Each team has the same process. We have around 30 games before the T20I World Cup. The first couple of series are an opportunity to try and see what our best combination could be,” he said.