Having started his T20I captaincy stint with two series wins over Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Suryakumar Yadav will aim to make it three in a row when the Men in Blue take on South Africa in the first of three games on Friday at the Kingsmead in Durban. It will also be a repeat of the T20 World Cup 2024 final where Rohit Sharma’s men defeated the Proteas by five runs.
With head coach Gautam Gambhir busy making plans for the Border Gavaskar Trophy, starting later this month, National Cricket Academy (NCA) chief VVS Laxman has been sent to look after the coaching duties in South Africa.
Meanwhile, pressure will be on South Africa. Post T20 World Cup, the Proteas suffered a 0-3 whitewash against West Indies while they drew 1-1 against Ireland, both in T20Is. In fact, South Africa gave a lot of youngsters opportunities against West Indies and Ireland.
On the other hand, India have also named a couple of new names in the squad against South Africa. Hard-hitting all-rounder Ramandeep Singh impressed with Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2024 and Emerging Asia Cup while Vijaykumar Vyshak got rewarded for his show at Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the previous IPL season.
India enjoy a slight 15-11 head-to-head record against South Africa in T20Is. Only one game ended in no result. The last time India visited South Africa for a T20I series was in 2023 where both teams played a 1-1 draw after one game was washed out due to rain.
India: Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy/Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan
South Africa: Aiden Markram (C), Reeza Hendricks, Ryan Rickelton, Tristian Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Ottneil Baartman, Lutho Sipamla
The India vs South Africa 1st T20I will be played at the Kingsmead in Durban on November 8 (Friday). The IND vs SA match starts at 8:30 PM IST. The toss will take place 30 minutes prior to the start of the game.
Sports18 are the official broadcasters of the India vs South Africa T20I series. Viewers can watch the India vs South Africa first T20I live on Sports18 and Colors Cineplex channels in India.
Live streaming of India vs South Africa 1st T20I will be available on Jio Cinema app and website in India from 8:30 PM IST.
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