‘It will be a challenge’ - Bavuma on tackling Kuldeep and Chahal

The Indian cricket team's season is ready to resume with the South African series after the Indian Premier League (IPL). Despite the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, South African captain Temba Bavuma has stated that he believes India's fighting spirit will still be present in the upcoming five-match T20I series. 

On the other hand, the Proteas team arrived with a full-strength squad, including the likes of Quinton de Kock, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, and Anrich Nortje, who had performed decently in the IPL. They will be hoping to carry that form into the national team.

The South African skipper said that the Indian players are in good form after performing well in the IPL season, and defeating Team India in their home country would be a challenging task for any team.

"It's obviously a new-look Indian side. A lot of guys who have done well in the recent IPL have been given opportunities. For us, as a team, we wouldn't be looking at it (the series) any differently. We don't really see it as taking on a 'B' side. The competitiveness will be there," Bavuma said.

"It's the guys who play cricket hard, who play very competitively. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are not there but the Indian fighting spirit will still be there. We don't expect it to be easy for us. We still expect it to be tough, and we'll be approaching it (the series) in that manner," he added.

Temba Bavuma has stated that the South African team is afraid of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav's spin combo. Yuzvendra Chahal took the most wickets in the IPL 2022. Kuldeep Yadav had a successful season, taking 21 wickets for the Delhi Capitals.

"It will be a challenge. We've played against them (Kuldeep and Chahal) a couple of times, and one hopes that this time we have a better understanding. The guys are individually speaking about them. They will have their individual ways of approaching spin and how they can be successful against the pair," Bavuma added.

The five-match T20I series will begin on June 9 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi with the first T20I, with the next four matches taking place in Cuttack (June 12), Visakhapatnam (June 14), Rajkot (June 17), and Bengaluru (June 19).