A clearer picture about India's core in the T20I setup would emerge when the players are thrown down the gauntlet against a sturdy South African side
India players warm up ahead of the second T20 cricket match between South Africa and India. Pic/AFP
November 19 - a day when India went into mourning following the catastrophic World Cup defeat to Australia on home turf. A month has almost gone by, but the pain of witnessing their team being cut to shreds by the ruthless visitors at Ahmedabad’s Motera Stadium still lingers in every Indian’s heart.
The young guns in the Indian team, who are currently on a limited-overs tour to South Africa, are aware that the management will strive to go all out to make up for the six-wicket drub in the World Cup final. Though the next edition of the cricket extravaganza is still some months away, the recently-concluded T20I series on home soil offered India’s sprightly bunch of Gen-Next stars a chance to alleviate some of the pain their senior counterparts suffered against the Australians during the six-week event.
The confidence that was eked out from a superlative effort against the Yellow Brigade does not have any real replacement with India having ticked several boxes over the course of their four matches. But the job is far from done.
That there was so much less at stake against Australia in a series held within 72 hours of the World Cup is known to even the most partisan Indian loyalist. Australia’s core bowling unit was rested after a strenuous battle with India’s unrelenting heat for about nine weeks and most seniors were as well too tired to stay back in the country after the third T20I. In that context, the South Africa series is the final major T20 International series for India, followed by another against Afghanistan.
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