India VS South Africa T20I: Should India invest in more Swing Bowlers?

A comfortable eight-wickets victory guided by KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav took India to a 1-0 lead in this three-match T20I series against South Africa.

India has not been able to win a T20I series against South Africa at home now for quite a long time, and prior to the game, a comparable level of competition was anticipated. But after South Africa came to bat, losing the toss was absolute destruction and carnage by the Indian pace attack in the form of Deepak Chahar and Arshdeep Singh.

Unbelievable start of the innings for India with a swing from the pitch

Deepak Chahar and Arshdeep Singh bowled like Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel against the Proteas under Rohit Sharma's captaincy. 

The duo took five wickets in the first 15 balls of the game, which reduced the Proteas to 9/5 at 2.3 overs.

Harsha Bhogle said, "If you like swing bowling, that was an unbelievable 10 minutes."

Arshdeep Singh, in his first over, took three wickets with his in-swinging and out-swinging balls. On the last ball of the over, he gave David Miller the first duck of his T20I career.

On getting his first man of the match, Arshdeep Singh said, "I enjoyed Miller's wicket as I thought he was expecting an outswinger, but I bowled an inswinger instead."

KL Rahul said, "We always want a left-arm seamer, and it is great to have someone like Arshdeep."

Rohit Sharma said, "Perfect showcase of how to bowl when there is help for the pacers (talking about Deepak Chahar and Arshdeep)."

Does India need more swing bowlers?

India's bowling attack has one of the best and most experienced swing bowlers - Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He has destroyed the opposition opening numerous times giving India a boost in a powerplay that takes them to a win.

Apart from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, there is no A-grade swing bowler in the main playing XI.

Australia has a bouncy pitch with grasses and having another swing bowler with the team brings too good of an advantage.

Players' duos like Trent Boult -Tim Southee, Pat Cummins-Mitchell Starc, Kagiso Rabada-Anrich Nortje, etc, have always given this boost. India has, however, always relied entirely on Bhuvneshwar Kumar for this job.

But after the last match, the benefit and strength of the team were evident by having another swing bowler added to the playing XI.

Both Arshdeep Singh and Deepak Chahar are in the World Cup squad. They will get to play the practice match in Australia before the main competition kicks in to judge and understand the surface. While Arshdeep Singh is in the 15-member squad, Deepak Chahar's inclusion in playing XI will remain subjective as he is in reserves. 

They have two more games to make their presence felt for the Men in Blue. However, if Jasprit Bumrah comes back, then it is likely that Deepak Chahar might not get a game ahead, and we will see a new pairing of Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah.