IND vs SA: How can India stop Reeza Hendricks and David Miller?

Jasprit Bumrah will be key for India (PC: Twitter)

India and South Africa will be facing each other in the first of the three match T20I series. The match will be taking place at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram.

After winning the series against Australia, the Indian team will be feeling confident about themselves going into this series. Keeping the first match in mind India will need to take special care against two batters of the Proteas camp- Reeza Hendricks and David Miller. 

Reeza Hendricks

Reeza Hendricks is in tremendous form in the shortest format (PC: Twitter)

Reeza Hendricks has been in tremendous form for the last two series. He batted in 5 innings in the two series and scored 296 runs in them. He has a stunning average of 59.2 and a strike rate of over 130 in these matches. 

Hendricks’s form has made it easier for the South African team to get solid starts on which they have laid the platform for some big totals. So it would be necessary for India to dismiss him early in the innings. 

Plan against Hendricks

As far as India’s squad dynamics is concerned India will be opening their bowling with Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeeep Singh. Also India might opt to go for Deepak Chahar. 

Hendricks generally approaches his innings quite slowly at the beginning. He looks to be the sheet anchor for his team and then try and take on the bowlers when he has settled down. Hence, the Indian bowlers should try to bowl the channel and be full in order to get a bit of swing to beat the edge of Hendricks’s bat. 

Notably, Thiruvananthapuram is a new ball pitch and the Indian bowlers should look to dismiss Reeza as early as possible. 

David Miller

Miller will have the onus of finishing strongly for South Africa (PC : Twitter)

David Miller has been the man behind most of the powerful finishes for South Africa. After his brilliant show in IPL 2022, it might be expected that Miller will leave a deep impact in this series.

So, what can India do to restrict ‘Killer Miller’?

Plan against Miller

The biggest strength of Miller is his pick up shots and he is especially good at playing shots in the mid-wicket to long-on region. So there could be two sets of plans against him.

Either go the yorker length and bowl it wide outside the off stump or target Miller’s body. It would be really good if India can mix these two plans and keep changing the plans accordingly. Also, once again playing Ashwin becomes important as he could be very potent against Miller. 

If India can get past these two batters, the job at hand for India might become easier. Yes, there are many other players in the South African team who can change the course of the match, but the biggest threat for India appears to be these two batters. 

Also Read: Why is South Africa series important for India?