Vice-captain Rassie van der Dussen insists Indian batsman Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan will pose the biggest threat to the Proteas in Sunday’s third and final T20I in Bengaluru.

Sharma was particularly fruitful against fast bowler Anrich Nortje in Wednesday’s second T20I in Mohali, where India won on the back of Kohli’s commanding half-century and a complementary cameo from Dhawan.

‘They are probably three of the best T20 batters in the world at the moment and the best among the world has ever seen. Virat and Rohit are the two leading run-scorers at the moment in international T20 cricket,’ said Van der Dussen.

‘It’s a great challenge for young bowlers coming here and bowling to these guys. But like I said, we know what the challenge is. If we want to get a win, we have to nullify these kinds of players.’

The squad is without veteran leg-spinner Imran Tahir, who retired from ODI cricket after the World Cup earlier this year. He has remained available for T20I selection, but was not selected for this tour. Instead, he played for Surrey in the England and Wales Cricket Board’s T20 Blast, and the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League.

‘Imran is obviously massive for us. He has been so good, he has retired from ODI cricket so he is going to focus on T20 cricket, and we know he is a big weapon for us,’ added Van der Dussen.

‘The challenge for other bowlers is that we don’t have the luxury of a guy like that, who can come in and bowl four overs for 20, and maybe take one or two wickets.’

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