A chance for Surya to finish South Africa series on a high

A good knock in the fifth and final T201 will soothe the nerves of team management and the Indian fans

- Somshuvra Laha

The air is set to be clean, the boundaries probably the longest ever on this tour as India aim to deny South Africa a win at Ahmedabad on Friday that can allow them to square the T20I series.

The abandoned match at Lucknow has already ensured India, leading 2-1, cannot lose the series but with some key issues yet to be sorted, the hosts must be looking forward to this match as eagerly as South Africa.

Top among them is Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill's lean run less than two months before the T20 World Cup. Baffling is how Suryakumar's strike rate has sharply slipped from a career high of 187.43 in 2022 to 125.29 this year. Not a single fifty in 18 innings while averaging only 14.20 for his 213 runs, Suryakumar right now is a shade of the middle-overs enforcer who was a vital cog of the 2022 and 2024 T20 World Cup sides.