3rd T20I: India target clean sweep against South Africa

Kohli, Rahul rested for inconsequential tie even as bowling unit remains a concernINDORE: Just a few hours after recording their maiden T20I series win at home against South Africa in Guwahati, India will look to achieve their first-ever clean sweep against the Proteas in the inconsequential third and final T20I at the Holkar Cricket Stadium here on Tuesday. A 3-0 result here, following up on the 2-1 series win over Australia, should help India pack some confidence when they board the flight for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia. The blazing form of the Men in Blue's top four, particularly the unstoppable Suryakumar Yadav, must be the most heartening feature of the recent 'home run'.

Yadav's scorching blade seems to be getting more and more marauding with every game, as was evident in his destructive 22-ball 62 on Sunday in Guwahati, which helped India eke out a series-deciding 16-run win. So impactful and pleasing was the 'SKY' show that even KL Rahul, who was named Man of the Match, expressed surprise at Surya not being given the award instead. Surya's powerful knock helped him gallop to 1,000 career runs in the 32 T20Is that he's played so far. He's the third fastest Indian to breach the '1k' mark after Virat Kohli and Rahul. In 2022, the Mumbaikar's numbers are insane: 22 innings, 793 runs at a strike rate of 185.28, in a tally which includes 68 sixes and 50 fours. Post the 32-year-old Guwahati 'special,' India skipper Rohit Sharma even joked that he would rather not play 'SKY' till India's World Cup opener against Pakistan on October 23!

The team management, has however, decided to give Kohli and Rahul a break for the final T20I. Shreyas is expected to replace Kohli but with no specialist batter in the