India under pressure as South Africa keep pushing them into corners

South Africa's win over India in New Chandigarh was pretty significant. It was only the third match India have lost out of 17 this year. It was the first time they won the toss and still lost since January. They went the whole last year with a single defeat after winning the toss.

While it might be prudent to ignore the meltdown the country went into at just the third loss in a year in a fickle format, India will need to address issues. Was the reason behind promoting a spin disruptor, Axar Patel, against high pace a good one? What does Suryakumar Yadav need to do to get some runs? How do they get Marco Jansen out of their hair?

From stunning India in the Tests to taking the ODI series to a decider to putting the hosts under pressure in T20Is, South Africa are having an unbelievable tour of India. They are yet to get the better of Varun Chakravarthy, but to score 0 for 45 off Jasprit Bumrah is half the battle.

A potentially spicy final week of this exciting tour is now upon us.

India LWWWL (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
South Africa WLLLW

Before New Chandigarh, Bumrah had never been hit for four sixes in a single T20I innings. A lot of it was down to Donovan Ferreira, who scored 17 off 6 off Bumrah, the best strike-rate for a batter against Bumrah in a T20I where they went at each other for six balls or more. He took Bumrah for two sixes, the joint-highest any batter has done in a single T20I. In the final equation, it was this assault that made it a bridge too far for India. There will likely be a repeat of this contest since Bumrah is a death bowler and Ferreira a lower-middle-order batter. Who will come out on top this time?

India might have lost comprehensively but their combination was hardly at fault. Don't expect much to change unless they want more batting depth or extra spin options.

India (probable): 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt.), 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Shivam Dube, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Arshdeep Singh, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Jasprit Bumrah.

South Africa might bring back Anrich Nortje for Lutho Sipamla; the spinner slot might be a toss-up between Keshav Maharaj and George Linde, who have both played a match each.

South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Aiden Markram (capt.), 3 Tristan Stubbs/ Reeza Hendricks, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 David Miller, 6 Donovan Ferreira, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 George Linde/ Keshav Maharaj, 9 Lungi Ngidi/ Corbin Borsch, 10 Ottneil Baartman, 11 Anrich Nortje/ Lutho Sipamla

Dharamsala is a tough venue to defend totals. Of the five T20Is with results that were played at night, four have been won by the chasing side. The cold temperatures - single digits possibly - could bring in assistance for fast bowlers.

"On a night when he's off you got to take what you can get because I don't know when you can get it again. He's a world-class performer and I'm sure he'll be back to his best again tomorrow night or maybe later in the series."
South Africa coach Shukri Conrad on how Bumrah was taken for 45 runs in his four wicketless overs in the second T20I