IND vs SA: With four matches remaining we have chance to win series, says Bhuvneshwar Kumar
IND vs SA: Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar stated before of his team’s second T20I match against South Africa in Cuttack that his team has a chance to win the series, but that they must bowl better and bat in the same manner as the previous game.
On Sunday, the second T20I encounter of the five-match series will be played in Cuttack’s Barabati Stadium.
“We have four games remaining in this series, we have a chance to win the series. We have to bowl better, and we need to bat in the same fashion as the previous game,” said the pacer during a press conference.
Bowling to an in-form David Miller, Kumar remarked, would be difficult.
“It is difficult (bowling to Miller). He is in such good form. I would want South Africa to drop him but they would not do so (laughs). He batted so well in the IPL; we know his calibre. Bowling to him would be a challenge,” he said.
Miller is in great form this year. He scored a match-winning 64* in the first clash against India. Besides that, he had an incredible IPL 2022 and was a key factor in Gujarat Titans’ triumph in their debut season. In his 16 games, he scored 481 runs at an average of 68.71. He has scored two half-centuries, with the best score of 94*.
The pacer said that the side has not seen the wicket yet and it expects to bowl well in the second match to level the series.
“We discussed what went wrong. It was the first game of the series; everyone is coming out the IPL and almost everyone who is in the team had a good IPL. So, everyone knows what needs to be done and the things we can improve on. As a bowling unit, we had an off day and we all want to make a comeback in the second T20I.
We did not bowl well, everyone knows that. It was just the first game; we still have the chance to win the series. It depends on the situation, but sometimes, you are not able to execute. When you are defending, generally the mindset is defensive. If you get a wicket, it works very well. But generally, you have a defensive mindset when you are defending a total,” he added.
The pacer stated that his duty and concentration is bowling during the powerplay and death overs.
“The senior bowlers are not here, there are some new bowlers here so I try to take the responsibility. You always try to talk to other bowlers and I try to keep talking with them. Focus is on bowling very well in each game,” he added.
After losing by seven wickets to South Africa in the opening T20I encounter of the five-match series at home, Team India will be hoping to even the series in the second T20I at Cuttack. South Africa, on the other hand, would be hoping to continue its winning streak in India. The Proteas, who have not lost a T20I series against the Men in Blue in India, would be hoping to add another series win to their resume.
In the first match, South Africa, who were chasing 212, lost wickets at regular intervals and were 81/3 when Miller and Van der Dussen stepped in to save the day.
The two batters finally set up a match-winning 131-run partnership for the fourth wicket, bringing up their fifties.
India had earlier produced 211/4 in 20 overs after being called in to bat first. Ishan Kishan slammed 76 off 48 balls, while Hardik Pandya smashed an unbeaten 31 off 12 balls.
In the five-match series, South Africa leads 1-0.
The post IND vs SA: With four matches remaining we have chance to win series, says Bhuvneshwar Kumar appeared first on CricTelegraph.