T20 World Cup 2022: 3 things to expect after Team India's loss to South Africa

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New Delhi, Nov 1: Despite Suryakumar Yadav's brilliance, India went down to South Africa in their first loss of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. India started their ICC T20 World Cup campaign brilliantly against Pakistan and followed it up with an easy win against the Netherlands.

The test of the bouncy pitches in Perth proved to be too much for the Indian batting order as they gave South Africa a relatively easier target of 134 runs which was chased down by the Proteas with a few balls to spare. Here, we look at three things to expect from the Indian contingent after the disappointing loss on Sunday.

#3 KL Rahul's patchy form can trouble India in big matches

As it happened, KL Rahul failed to touch the two-figure mark for the third consecutive match as the Lucknow Super Giants skipper was sent back to the pavilion by Lungi Ngidi for a mere score of 9 runs.

With Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya in form, the Indian team needs an opener who can negate the pace, bounce, and swing of the new ball alongside skipper Rohit Sharma.

The Karnataka-based batsman was out with an injury for a long period followed by dismal performances in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup. With upcoming matches against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, Rahul needs to find his touch back or is in danger of being replaced by Rishabh Pant at the top of the order who provides a different matchup being the sole left-handed batter in the Indian squad.

#2 India's pace battery spitting fire on Australian pitches

With plenty of pace and bounce on offer, Jasprit Bumrah, one of the best fast bowlers in the world was expected to lead India's bowling attack down under. But an unfortunate back spasm two weeks before the start of the biggest T20 competition in the world put a huge hole in the Indian squad.

In stepped the experienced Mohammed Shami, who has stabilized the Indian bowling attack alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, and Hardik Pandya as the pace quartet even allowed skipper Sharma to rest Axar Patel in favor of an extra batsman in Deepak Hooda against South Africa.

With tougher oppositions like New Zealand and Australia who are much more accustomed to these conditions, Shami and co. would need to be at the top of their form to give India a chance of lifting the coveted trophy.

#1 India needs to gain the confidence back after the loss

Pakistan lost to India in a nail-biter in the first match which deflated Babar Azam's team's confidence and they went on to lose another crucial match to minnows Zimbabwe.
The Indian team now faces Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in their next two Super 12 matches and the Men in Blue need to ensure the gulf in class and the quality shows on the pitch as well after a disappointing show against South Africa.

By: Mohak Arora, Parimatch sport expert