IND vs SA, 3rd T20I: Rishabh Pant set to join Dhoni, Kohli in elite club; Suryakumar eyes unique century at Indore
Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant will hope to join MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli in an elite club on Tuesday. India's Suryakumar Yadav is also eyeing a special feat in the 3rd T20I against South Africa.
With Team India set to miss the services of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul in the 3rd T20I, the onus will be on batting superstars Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav to deliver the goods for the hosts in the absence of key campaigners. The Indian think will also expect Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer to step up in the absence of Rahul and Kohli at the Holkar Cricket Stadium.
Wicketkeeper-batter Pant can enter his name into record books on Tuesday when India square off against South Africa in the 3rd T20I. Likely to get promoted to the top order in the 3rd T20I, Pant will aim to become the 10th Indian batter to complete 1,000 runs in the shortest format for the 2007 world champions. Pant has amassed 934 runs in 61 matches for India. Earlier, Pant's teammate Suryakumar had achieved the same feat in the 2nd T20I against the Proteas.
After securing the three-match series by winning back-to-back matches, Rohit's Team India will meet the Temba Bavuma-led South Africa in the dead rubber on Tuesday. Premier batter Suryakumar played a match-winning knock for India in the penultimate clash of the three-match series. The in-form batter also shattered multiple records in the 2nd T20I against South Africa at Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Suryakumar became the quickest batter to complete 1,000 runs (in terms of number of balls faced) in the shortest format. The star batter will be hoping to continue his impressive run in the shortest format on Tuesday. Interestingly, Suryakumar can smash a unique century in T20I cricket at Indore. The milestone man of the Indian team has stroked 93 fours in his glittering T20I career.
The 32-year-old is only seven boundaries away from scoring 100 fours in T20I cricket. Suryakumar can join the likes of Rohit, Kohli, Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina in the T20I list of batters who have smashed 100 fours for Team India. The third-quickest Indian batter to 1000 T20I runs, Suryakumar slammed the joint-second-fastest half-century in India's 8-wicket win over South Africa at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium.
