SPORTS

Team India had a perfect start to the three-match T20I series against South Africa in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday (September 28), thrashing Temba Bavuma’s side by eight wickets in the opening encounter. Pacers Deepak Chahar and Arshdeep Singh ran riot, claiming the first five wickets inside the first three overs of the SA innings.

After the early loss of wickets, South African batter Aiden Markram mounted a small recovery with all-rounder Wayne Parnell. Rohit Sharma wanted to dismiss Markram cheaply as well and hence opted for a DRS review on suggestion of former India captain Virat Kohli.

Arshdeep Singh, who was bowling his third successive over after taking three wickets in his first, managed to beat Markram’s outside edge off the third ball. The left-arm pacer and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant made expressions that said that they knew it is close but not out. However, captain Rohit Sharma first seemed to look elsewhere while making a decision before actually going for the DRS.

IND vs SA, 1st T20I Live Cricket Score: South Africa Strike Early as Kagiso Rabada Removes Rohit for a Duck

Arshdeep (3/32) and Chahar (2/24) justified Rohit Sharma’s call to bowl first as they scythed through South Africa’s top order in picking five wickets on the first 15 balls of the innings. Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first against South Africa in the T20I series opener at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.

The Indian skipper revealed that the hosts have made three changes from the eleven which won the series against Australia in Hyderabad, left-arm pacer Arshdeep and left-handed batter Pant come in as Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been rested from the series.

'Spirit of Cricket' was once the topic of discussion after India all-rounder Deepti Sharma's run-out of England batter Charlotte Dean during the third ODI match at the iconic Lord's. The dismissal completely shifted focus from India's historic series clean sweep against England and the legendary Jhulan Goswami's farewell as many veterans and experts of the game from England questioned Deepti's act with sparking a 'Spirit of Cricket' debate. India legend Kapil Dev too joined the discussion on Monday as he took to Instagram to give his verdict.

India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first against Australia in the third and final T20I at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket in Hyderabad. With the series levelled at 1-1, India made just one change to their playing XI from the previous game as Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned to the side, replacing wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant. India had levelled the series 1-1 after beating Australia in a rain-hit match. During the toss, Rohit explained why Pant had to sit out the series decider.

Rohit explained that the team only needed four bowlers in the previous match, which was reduced to an 8-overs-per-side contest. As a result, Bhuvneshwar had to sit out the game, and Pant was included in the playing XI.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam stormed back to form with a stunning hundred vs England in the 2nd T20I, putting a stop on critcism over his strike rate and slump in form. Babar had a horrific show in Asia Cup 2022 recently and his role as an opening batter was being questioned by the experts and fans. Former Pakistan pacer Aqib Javed had slammed Babar for playing with a low strike rate and went on to say that in PSL, teams never wanted his wicket as his slow approach was beneficial to the bowling team. The Pak captain has now answered back to Javed and other critics with his 2nd T20I hundred. 

Like Babar, Mohammad Rizwan too has been criticised for his strike rate but the Pakistan wicketkeeper and batter slammed 88 off 51 balls in the same match, that included 5 fours and 4 sixes respectively, to gave a fitting reply to the haters.