Zaahier Adams
The India team set to face the Proteas in the much-anticipated four-match T20I series may be missing a few superstars, but Wayne Parnell believes they will still pose an almighty threat.
The defending T20 World Champions have seen captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja retire from international short-format cricket after they edged out the Proteas in a pulsating final in Barbados earlier this year.
There are only three players – Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, and Axar Patel – who formed part of the India starting XI on that fateful day at the Kensington Oval. They were all hugely influential, with Yadav set to always be remembered for his outstanding catch on the boundary that dismissed David Miller in Pandya’s final over. Patel, meanwhile, had earlier made an invaluable 47 off just 31 balls during India’s innings.
While the trio will provide the backbone of the India squad, the remainder will be eager to prove they are ready to fill the vacant spots. Parnell, due to his recent IPL experience with the Royal Challengers Bangalore, has seen many of these “unknown” players up close and personal.
“I think even if that entire team that played in the T20 World Cup final had retired, India would still be able to field a very competitive team. That’s just due to the number of quality cricketers that they have,” the former Proteas all-rounder exclusively told Independent Media.
“So, while people in South Africa may see them as unknown, they have all played in the IPL the last few years, and done well there, and that’s why they are playing international cricket. There are some very exciting new faces.”
Parnell is certainly excited to see how his former RCB teammate Yash Dayal fares in South African bowler-friendly conditions after cutting his teeth at the unforgiving Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
“He is a very good new-ball bowler. A left-arm seamer that swings the ball both ways, which is obviously a different sort of angle. He did really well for RCB last season,” he said.
“The Chinnaswamy is a very tough ground to bowl at, but he showed that he had the skill to limit the damage. Obviously, coming here for the first time, it may take some of them a while to settle in terms of the conditions, but at the end of the day these are quality cricketers.”
From an Indian perspective, the focus will not only be on the tourists but also on Proteas kingpin Heinrich Klaasen. The 33-year-old was recently retained as the most expensive player in the history of the IPL at close to R48 million by Sunrisers Hyderabad for next season.
Parnell feels the hefty price tag won’t affect Klaasen’s performances during the international series, but that it will place him under the microscope when the IPL gets underway next year.
“I don’t think anything will change playing for the Proteas. I don’t think from a Proteas point of view that the price tag will affect him in any way,” he said.
“I think he’ll feel the pressure once he gets to the IPL. What I’ve noticed over the years is that with all the players with the big price tags, if you have one bad game, the media are all over you. And that price tag gets mentioned every single time. I think that’s when the pressure will come.
“I think once he gets to the IPL, that’s when the pressure will increase. That’s where there will be the expectation that he needs to do something special. We saw that with Mitchell Starc this year, but these quality players show up when it matters.”
India squad for South Africa: Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal.