India's desire of beating South Africa in a home T20I series ended after Proteas skipper Quinton de Kock played a brilliant innings to take his team to victory. After the top trio of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan could not go big with the bat in the 3rd T20I against South Africa in Bengaluru, other batsmen also completely failed to cover up the batting collapse. Here we will look at three Indian players who cost Indian team’s first T20I home series win over South Africa. SA Beat IND By 9 Wickets | India Vs South Africa, Highlights And Cricket Score 3rd T20I Match. 

With the T20I series ending in a tie 1-1, South Africa effectively managed to evade first T20I series defeat on Indian soil. While Indian fans were curiously expecting the Virat Kohli and company to crush the Proteas in the 3rd T20I as well, the result was totally different with South Africa winning by 9 wickets in a one-sided game. With Indian team being able to score just 134-9 in a high-scoring stadium like M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, it can be very well said that the poor batting was the key factor behind India's loss. As India’s batting collapse mattered a lot in the match, here are the three players who cost India first T20I series win over South Africa on home soil. Rishabh Pant Trolled With Funny Memes For His Poor Show During India vs South Africa 3rd T20I 2019 Match.

 

Rishabh Pant

After the top order failed to go big, Pant was expected to balance the batting with his expertise in the T20I format. However, after a couple of boundaries, the left-handed batsman failed once again and gave away his wicket easily with a flight shot at long-off. With a good experience in international cricket, Pant could have rebuilt the Indian innings. He once had a good support for building a partnership with his Delhi Capitals’ teammate Shreyas Iyer on the other end. However, he played a loose shot on Andile Phehlukwayo’s delivery and was dismissed at 20 runs off 19 balls. Rishabh Pant & Deepak Chahar Get Trolled For Forcing Virat Kohli to Take DRS During IND vs SA 3rd T20I Match.

 

Krunal Pandya

Krunal Pandya was selected in the T20I squad during South Africa’s tour of India 2019 in spite of another effective all-rounder in the squad in the form of his brother Hardik Pandya. After Shreyas Iyer lost his wicket, Krunal came in to bat with brother Hardik on the other hand. Hardik and Krunal share great teamwork due to their long successful stint with IPL (Indian Premier League) team Mumbai Indians.

Hardik fought till the end and proved himself and at one moment, fans expected Krunal to create a partnership with his brother to build the innings. However, the senior Pandya could only score 4 runs off 7 balls and returned to the pavilion with more than 6 overs remaining in the match.

Virat Kohli

Kohli is in the list not because of his performance, but because of his decisions in the match. He opted to bat first in the 3rd T20I against South Africa but the Indian team suffered a batting fallout. India won the 2nd T20I while batting first but the Indian skipper had different plans in mind in the third game. He had the privilege to choose batting or bowling, and after he elected to bat first, India completely failed to come up with a good score.

Also, he could not effectively come up with secondary plans when bowlers could not find breakthroughs. In addition, Pant and Iyer coming into the bat simultaneously showed India’s poor planning in the match. Kohli also played an unwanted shot to lose his wicket. India’s poor planning in the match was quite visible and Kohli being the leader, was responsible in this matter.

India vs South Africa, 3rd T20I Stat Highlights: Quinton de Kock Brings the Three-Game Series on 1-1

Although the whole Indian team share the load of not beating South Africa in the T20I home series, the above three players could have changed the fate of the match. With the toss in their favour, home advantage and rains not affecting the match at any point, India were expected to script a history against South Africa. However, India did not dominate the match at any point and South Africa emerged as well-deserved winners in the match.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 23, 2019 04:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).