Shastri bullish over India prospects

South Africa’s 72-day tour to India began on a positive note for the visitors after a comprehensive win over India in the T20 series.

Both India and South Africa’s ODI teams have suffered the same fate in the recent past: a first-ever series defeat to Bangladesh.

As it turns out, the cricket gods saw to it there was not a ball bowled, and the home side were left to stew a few days more on their laboured start to this Friendship Tour.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni strode in for the pre-match press conference on Saturday (October 10) looking all suave, with a smile and red sunglasses, even as the room, loud with chatter till that point, hushed itself quiet. “I don’t think a lot of people expected us to be 2-0 up in the T20I series”. The final match right here was performed in 2013 between India and West Indies which the hosts gained by 5 wickets with Shikhar Dhawan scoring a blistering century and grabbing the Player of the Match award.

For one thing, Kohli and Sharma will resume hostilities with Steyn, who loves nothing more than seeing India’s best players tickling his bending bananas behind to the cordon.

After already clinching the series plate, South Africa is not going to sit on their personal glory and so are determined to full the Along side20 series in their unique style, according to batsman David Miller. “So all the discussions and plans that we have had for the batters, it’s great to see that tonight everything came together, so really proud of the bowlers”.

With R Ashwin in splendid form – he claimed four of the seven South African wickets to fall during the T20Is – Dhoni was asked if South Africa would be at the receiving end of a spin barrage.

“It’s a young team, we’re still figuring on what will be our best combination, the best way forward”.

“We have had a good look in the two games and know what we can expect of the South Africans. India will try to bounce back and hopefully we will stop them”. The new fielding restrictions, which allow an extra fielder out, should help India’s premier spinner stick to his guns rather than worry about stalling one end up, and as a result, he should expect to be among the wickets. It looks like a good cricket wicket.

“When we are hosting an global match, everyone gets involved, and it becomes a collective responsibility”.

“We haven’t seen them for a while so they bring good energy and experience to the side”. We have not played T20s.

“In the one-day competition we understand our game as well”. We’re just preparing for a normal cricket game and assess tomorrow when we get to the ground and expose India in certain areas.

Highest Total- India posted 401/3 in 2010 at Gwalior in 50 overs, and that remains the highest team total between the two sides.