12 September 2019, by: Prasenjit Dey of CricXtasy

What should Proteas gameplan be against Rohit and Kohli?

As the Quinton de Kock-led South African team gears up to lock horns with the Indian side in the three-match T20I series, starting with the first T20I on Sunday, a major part of their preparations would be centred around devising plans to keep the two Indian batting stalwarts, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, at bay.

The duo is an unstoppable force in this format of the game. For, they have the most number of runs in T20I history. While Rohit leads the list with 2422 runs in 96 matches at an excellent average of 32.72, Kohli follows him up with a tally of 2369 runs in 70 matches at an even better average of 49.35.

Moreover, they have the joint-most number of fifty-plus scores (21) in T20I history as well, and Rohit has even converted four of those into impactful centuries. So, the Proteas have every reason to be afraid of them.

The first match of the series is going to be played at Dharamsala and it is a venue where this South African side saw Rohit and Kohli at their best four years back.

While Rohit notched up his maiden T20I century, an innings of 106 off just 66 deliveries, Kohli had also played a stroke-filled knock of 43 runs off just 26 deliveries. The venue presents one of the best batting conditions in India and, hence, the threat of Rohit-Kohli special looms large for South Africa once again.

Yes, the Proteas had succeeded in chasing down the target of 200 runs last time around but things aren’t going to be easy for them this time considering the kind of bowling attack India have now. So, the Proteas have to focus on stopping these two batsmen to give themselves a chance of winning in this series.

Statistics show that they still have some hope of keeping Kohli quiet. The Indian skipper has only 173 T20I runs to his name against South Africa and his average of 28.33 is pretty low as compared to his average of 40+ against most other sides.

In fact, he has only one fifty-plus score to his name against the Proteas, an innings of 72* which came in South African conditions last year. Take that out and he averages a meagre 16.83 with a total tally of 101 runs in six outings against them. That includes three single-digit scores as well.

Moreover, Kohli has had his share of troubles against wrist-spin of late. Since the start of 2018, wrist-spinners have accounted for four out of his 11 dismissals and South Africa’s Tabraiz Shamsi is one of those bowlers to take his wicket once as well.

Rajasthan Royals’ spinner Shreyas Gopal had also accounted for Kohli’s wicket twice in the IPL earlier this year, which again sums up Kohli’s increased troubles against wrist spin. So, that gives South Africa a proper gameplan to follow against the Indian skipper.

However, Rohit’s numbers could be a bit unnerving for them. He is second on the list of most T20I runs against the Proteas with a total tally of 341 runs. And his batting average of 37.88 is the third-best among batsmen who have played at least five innings against South Africa.

The numbers don’t stop here as he has the joint-most number of fifty-plus scores (three) against them as well. So, they need to be concerned about stopping Rohit more than Kohli. And, for that, they have to take a leaf out of the approach they adopted during their T20I series against India last year at home.

It was Junior Dala who had accounted for Rohit’s dismissals during all three of the matches last year. While the pacer had dismissed him caught behind once, Dala had beaten Rohit with pace and inward movement on the other two occasions, thus, trapping him lbw in both instances. In fact, this has been the 32-year-old’s weakness throughout his career. Dealing with in-swinging deliveries hasn’t quite been his cup of tea.

However, if more recent performances are taken into account, it can be observed that Rohit has worked a little on this issue. His performance in India’s tournament opener against South Africa during the World Cup, a couple of months back, gave an idea about the hard work he has done to resolve his problem.

While players like Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli succumbed to a dangerous opening spell of fast bowling from the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris, Rohit stood tall and took India over the line with a majestic knock of 122* off 144 deliveries.

He weathered the initial storm beautifully. The temperament, resolve and technique he showed to handle the movement earlier in the innings gave an idea about how he has improved his game.

So, his battle against the South African pacers is actually going to be an interesting contest to watch out for in this series. He might have improved his approach to tackle them but bowling in a disciplined stump-to-stump channel consistently with pace is what the South African pacers can try best. They have to do their part and wait for Rohit to commit a mistake as that’s their best chance of bringing this giant of a batsman down.

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