SHOULD the Proteas win the fourth and final T20 International against India at the Wanderers tonight (5pm start), the series will be squared and the two teams will share the series trophy.
This is because the suits at Cricket South Africa, most likely because of the busy calendar in international cricket, could only manage to get India to tour South Africa for four T20I matches.
Also, the fact that South Africa are the ‘minor’ team may have played a part in the negotiations as it is the Proteas who needed the series to happen for the obvious financial benefits of hosting India.
Following the 11-run defeat to India in Centurion on Wednesday night, which saw India take a 2-1 lead in the series, Proteas middle-order batter Heinrich Klaasen expressed the players’ frustrations over the way the tour was scheduled.
“It doesn’t sit well with the players, because we want to play more cricket against these guys and against the other countries as well – but we always find a way to play two games or three games,” said Klaasen.
“It’s disappointing. It’s annoying, and then you see India is playing Friday and Friday, which is incredible, in two half sides of the world.
“I think that’s the nature of where we are as South African cricket. We don’t play anymore (a) five-match series. Our Test team plays two-match series, which is ridiculous in my eyes.
“How nice would it be if we win on Friday, and Sunday is another game, going into it 2-2. It is what it is – we have to make sure that we don’t lose the series.
“There’s no time to hover on this. We’ll make small tweaks in our planning, but other than that, that’s part of professional cricket these days.”
Klaasen heads into the final match of the series having turned his form around with a 22-ball 41 in Centurion, after enduring a lean patch following his return to competitive cricket.
The 33-year-old batter had only managed one half-century in eight innings since coming back from a break, and that milestone came in the blue colours of the Titans in the domestic T20 Challenge.
The middle-order batter told the media that he had technical glitches he had to fix, a feat that the Proteas will hope to benefit from tonight in order to level the series at the Wanderers.
“It’s been a lean run, but it’s also been one hell of a year for me. After a two-to-three-month break, it’s not that easy in this format especially to come in and play aggressive cricket, and the style I play, to find some form instantly.
“There were some technical glitches, and once again I just went back to the people that I do trust and that know my game very well.
“I felt a lot better tonight. I’m still not perfect and not where I want to be, but it’s a lot better.
“I know and I understand my game at the moment, which is very nice, and I’m in a fortunate position to understand my game and know where to tweak.
“I’m very thankful for the people who know my game well to help me out of a little bit of a dip. Also, I don’t look into that too much, because it’s been a long and tough year. It was still a fantastic year for me.”
Coach Rob Walter and captain Aiden Markram will be tempted to play wrist-spinner Nqaba Peter tonight, given that the 22-year-old calls the Wanderers his home ground and it is where he has had the most success in his young professional career.
One would imagine that change would come at the cost of a seam bowler, and given the struggles that Gerald Coetzee has endured with the ball in the series thus far, he might miss out tonight.
Proteas Probable XI: Ryan Rickelton, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (captain), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Keshav Maharaj, Nqaba Peter, Lutho Sipamla.
India Probable XI: Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Rmandeep Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakravarthy.