India look to address middle-order, bowling woes in 3rd ODI vs Proteas

A fragile Indian
middle order will be aiming to better support the superstars up top, while bowlers
will hope be more effective as the visitors look to salvage some pride ahead of
the third and final ODI against South Africa on Sunday.

After being
handed comprehensive losses in the first two ODIs in Paarl, India come into the
dead-rubber third ODI at Cape Town’s Newlands Cricket Ground looking to avoid
an embarrassing series whitewash.

Another loss
will pile further pressure on the team, which bottled a 1-0 lead to lose the Test
series 2-1.

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And the cracks in the team are evident, with the middle-order failing to fire as well as experienced bowlers, save Jasprit Bumrah, unable to provide breakthroughs against the Proteas. 

India have taken only seven wickets in the series so far – four in the first game when the hosts went on to win by 31 runs, and three in the seven-wicket loss in the second ODI. 

Senior pros like Ravichandran Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are especially under pressure, providing very little threat to the South African batters as they lapped up their toothless attack. The Proteas have also adapted their batting very well against Indian spinners, playing sweep shots to score freely. 

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It will not come as a surprise if the team management decides to drop either of the two for the likes of Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini or others in the squad. 

In the batting department, while the top-order has been providing decent starts, the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer in the middle have failed to provide enough support. The two batters have scored a combined 62 runs in four innings. 

Also under pressure is KL Rahul, who is seen as a future captain prospect but whose leadership in both ODIs so far has lacked spark. There hasn’t been any tactical improvisations in the two games so far which would inspire confidence in his leadership abilities.

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Squads:

India: KL
Rahul (captain), Jasprit Bumrah, Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli,
Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper),
Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar,
Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Md. Siraj, Jayant Yadav,
Navdeep Saini.

South
Africa: Temba Bavuma (captain), Keshav Maharaj, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper),
Zubayr Hamza, Marco Jansen, Janneman Malan, Sisanda Magala, Aiden Markram,
David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius,
Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne.