{"id":3413,"date":"2026-02-22T05:56:40","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T05:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/?p=3413"},"modified":"2026-02-22T05:56:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T05:56:40","slug":"128665515-cms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/?p=3413","title":{"rendered":"IND vs SA: Selection headache or perfect balance? Ravi Shastri flags India\u2019s only dilemma ahead of Super 8 showdown | Cricket News &#8211; The Times of India"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"MwN2O\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"T22zO\">\n<section class=\"D3Wk1  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  VtlfQ\" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"D3Wk1\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"zPaFh\">\n<div class=\"wJnIp\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-128665592,imgsize-190436,width-400,resizemode-4\/india-at-t20-world-cup.jpg\" alt=\"IND vs SA: Selection headache or perfect balance? Ravi Shastri flags India\u2019s only dilemma ahead of Super 8 showdown\" title=\"Captain Suryakumar Yadav, right, head coach Gautam Gambhir, second left, with the team. (PTI Photo)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"cj2hz img_cptn\"><span title=\"Captain Suryakumar Yadav, right, head coach Gautam Gambhir, second left, with the team. (PTI Photo)\">Captain Suryakumar Yadav, right, head coach Gautam Gambhir, second left, with the team. (PTI Photo)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>India\u2019s formidable depth has become both their greatest strength and their only selection headache as the defending champions march unbeaten into the Super Eight stage of the ICC Men&#8217;s T20 World Cup.<!-- --> A win over the Netherlands extended their winning streak in the tournament to 12 matches and reinforced the impression of a side with few weaknesses \u2014 but according to former coach Ravi Shastri, one crucial dilemma remains.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"3\"\/><span class=\"strong\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@toisports\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" target=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">SUBSCRIBE NOW!<\/a><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"6\"\/>Shastri believes India are unlikely to tinker with a winning combination when they face South Africa in a blockbuster clash on Sunday, insisting the current XI ticks nearly every box.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"10\"\/>\u201cI think it will be pretty much the same side because you&#8217;ve got depth, you&#8217;ve got all bases covered, you&#8217;ve got options, you need options,\u201d Shastri told ICC Review.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"12\"\/> <\/p>\n<div class=\"lOvcW vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"k7lcu\">\n<p>India, left-handers and off-spin: Why hosts need to be very worried<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"15\"\/>He stressed the importance of flexibility, particularly in conditions where dew could influence team balance.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"17\"\/>\u201cWhen there&#8217;s dew around, you need that extra bowling option. Whether it&#8217;s a Shivam Dube, whether it&#8217;s Hardik bowling his full quota of overs, whether it&#8217;s Tilak Varma who might roll his arm for an over or two, you need those options. I don&#8217;t think they&#8217;ll tinker with the side. I think the team that played in the last game was a good side,\u201d he said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"21\"\/>India\u2019s campaign so far has been defined by collective contributions rather than reliance on individuals, something Shastri views as a major positive.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"23\"\/><\/p>\n<div data-type=\"in_view\" class=\"  \">\n<div class=\"EEW3_ timeline_pollWrapper_as \" data-scrollga=\"scroll#poll_view\">\n<div>\n<p>Poll<\/p>\n<p>Should India change their winning combination for the upcoming match against South Africa?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"25\"\/>\u201cIn every game there&#8217;s been someone who stood up. It has been Ishan Kishan, sometimes Surya in the first game. Tilak Varma has played his part\u2026 I still think the best of him is still to come,\u201d he noted. <!-- -->\u201cI look at it as a positive that Abhishek Sharma has got three zeros. So, save your best for the important periods in the tournament. Teams will be a little worried that he&#8217;s not got runs.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"29\"\/>However, Shastri identified one key selection call: whether to play Axar Patel or Washington Sundar. Both offer spin and batting depth, but only one spot is available.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"31\"\/>Beyond selection, Shastri expects a high-quality contest between two in-form sides at the Narendra Modi Stadium.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"34\"\/>\u201cThere&#8217;s a lot of self-belief and it&#8217;s going to be a cracking contest because South Africa are no pushovers,\u201d he said. \u201cThey&#8217;ve got depth in batting. India have got depth in batting. These are two of the strongest teams.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"36\"\/>Familiarity with conditions could play a role, but Shastri warned dew may ultimately decide the outcome.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"38\"\/>\u201cWhen you&#8217;re familiar with the ground\u2026 you know what lengths to bowl. The thing to see is the amount of dew. Toss can play a crucial role.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"40\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/sports\/cricket\/icc-mens-t20-world-cup\/ind-vs-sa-selection-headache-or-perfect-balance-ravi-shastri-flags-indias-only-dilemma-ahead-of-super-8-showdown\/articleshow\/128665515.cms\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Captain Suryakumar Yadav, right, head coach Gautam Gambhir, second left, with the team. (PTI Photo)&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9637,9631,9634,9633,9632,9638,9635,9636],"class_list":["post-3413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-axar-patel-vs-washington-sundar","tag-ind-vs-sa-t20-world-cup-preview","tag-india-cricket-team-strength","tag-india-cricket-team-super-8","tag-indias-winning-streak-t20-world-cup","tag-narendra-modi-stadium-conditions","tag-ravi-shastri-selection-advice","tag-south-africa-cricket-team-analysis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}