CHENNAI: Even as Indian cricket is still smiling about the spectacular ODI series win against South Africa in Visakhapatnam, the caravan has already been moved a little further along the East coast to Cuttack.
This time, however, it will be a different team under a different captain, Suryakumar Yadav, playing the T20 format against the same opponents. The context of the series takes precedence as it is the penultimate T20I series India will play going into the home World Cup in February. Which is why, these five matches between the 2024 T20 World Cup finalists take significance.
For India have as many as ten matches to figure out their best possible combination while assessing and monitoring the fitness of some of the key players. At the top of that list would be Hardik Pandya who is making a comeback to the Indian team after the Asia Cup in September.
Pandya had been out of action due to a left quadricep injury since and has made his comeback in domestic cricket, playing for Baroda in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In his first game back, he smashed an unbeaten 77 off 42 balls to take Baroda home against Punjab in the chase of 223. He bowled eight overs in both matches combined and arrived in Cuttack early to train ahead of the first T20I against South Africa.
On Sunday, as the team travelled from Visakhapatnam to Cuttack, Pandya seemed to be the lone player to train at the OCA Stadium. Him remaining fit for the next three months becomes all the more crucial for India because of the balance he brings to the table. Four overs of change-up in middle-overs and death with both Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh in the XI and the depth in the middle-order with his explosive hitting.
His is a place India are still struggling to fill with Nitish Kumar Reddy nowhere near a finished all-rounder and Shivam Dube's bowling not as impactful as Pandya's. Which is why, handling Pandya with velvet gloves while making the most of his abilities will be essential for India to have a chance at retaining their T20 title, especially at home.
The road towards that begins in Cuttack where the stadium is in need for a massive upgrade. Once a historic venue, the venue has lost its significance, hosting white-ball matches on rotation. The last time it hosted an international game was the second ODI between India and England where 35 minutes of play was affected due to floodlight malfunction. OCA president Pankaj Lochan Mohanty even reiterated at the time that the venue needs to be renovated. Come Tuesday, the officials and the stakeholders will hope that the focus remains on cricket rather than the venue.
And on the field, Pandya will be one who carries the limelight at the core of it all. Of course, it remains to be seen whether vice-captain Shubman Gill, coming back from neck injury, takes the field in the very first match of the series.
