Pressure mounts on Pant as India look to draw first blood

Mohali, Sept 17:

Rishabh Pant’s form would be an important sub-plot when India look to seize the advantage against South Africa in the second T20 International here on Wednesday after a washout in Dharamsala effectively made the series a two-match affair.
The T20 World Cup is more than 12 months away but India captain Virat Kohli has already detailed his plans and expectations from the youngsters in the side.
The skipper did not expect to get a bagful of opportunities when he arrived on the international scene and believes the current crop of youngsters also need to make it count in the limited time they are going to get.
One of them is 21-year-old Rishabh Pant, who can’t be bracketed as a “youngster” anymore having made his debut back in February 2017.
Not a single ball was bowled in the series-opener but there was enough happening on the sidelines and most of it was focussed on Pant.
Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (c), Rassie van der Dussen (vc), Temba Bauvma, Junior Dala, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukyao, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, George Linde. (PTI)