India take on South Africa in the 5th T20I, a winner-takes-it-all decider at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.
With head coach Rahul Dravid's mantra of consistency in the playing eleven, giving players time and making them feel settled in their positions, India have now started to benefit from it.
After losing in New Delhi and Cuttack, the Rishabh Pant-led side resisted the temptation of making any changes to the eleven and with better execution of plans, registered victories by 47 runs and by 82 runs in Visakhapatnam and Rajkot respectively.
The hosts will take a lot of heart from the fact that its bowling attack is finding its groove. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and pacer Harshal Patel shined in Visakhapatnam with three and four wickets respectively while in Rajkot, it was Avesh Khan's turn to get into the wickets column as the Proteas were bowled out for 87.
Proteas outplayed
For South Africa, who quickly took a 2-0 lead in the series, being comprehensively outplayed in the last two matches will cause them concerns ahead of the Bengaluru decider.
With doubts over Temba Bavuma's availability due to a left elbow injury causing him to retire hurt in Rajkot, the visitors will be fretting over whether Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell have recovered from their injuries to play in Bengaluru.
While the Proteas would want to seal another series win in India, the hosts have successfully demonstrated enough firepower in their bounceback abilities and, who knows, after taking the series to a decider, they might even win it. The stage is set for an enthralling finale to an exciting series between India and South Africa.
India: Rishabh Pant (Captain & wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik.
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (captain), Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen (wicketkeeper), Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Marco Jansen and Tristan Stubbs.
When: June 19 (Sunday)
Where to Watch: Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 HD Hindi, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports 1 Telugu, Star Sports 1 Kannada
Live Streaming: Disney+Hotstar
Timing: 7:00 pm onwards IST
