South Africa vs India Match Preview, 1st T20I

The upcoming four-match T20I series between South Africa and India is set to kick off on November 8 at Kingsmead, Durban. A set of Indian cricketers, including Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jasprit Bumrah among others will miss the series due to the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy as the team is almost similar to the one that defeated Bangladesh 3-0 earlier in the year.

Ramandeep Singh has been added to the squad and it needs to be seen if the cricketer is handed any game time. Meanwhile, the focus will be on Sanju Samson, who is expected to open alongside Abhishek Sharma. The Kerala-born cricketer warmed the bench in the entire T20 World Cup 2024 and after which, he struggled in the first two games against Bangladesh, before smashing a cracking century in the third.

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Arshdeep Singh will be leading the bowling department and has the support of Avesh Khan, Vijaykumar Vyshak and Yash Dayal. Varun Chakravarthy, who had a stunning time in the series against Bangladesh, will be key with the ball. Among seniors, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya are available.

South Africa, on the other hand, have named a strong batting unit but will miss the services of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje. Tabraiz Shamsi has also not been picked up for the series. The batters will have a massive responsibility in the series and they will look forward to taking revenge of the T20 World Cup 2024 final. Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs and captain Aiden Markram will be key.

SA vs IND Match Details

Pitch Report

The surface at Kingsmead offers assistance to the batters. The pacers can do some damage early on but overall, the batters are expected to enjoy their time in the middle. Anything over 175 runs will be a good total on the surface.

Head-To-Head Records

Probable Predicted XIs

South Africa:

South Africa’s bowling unit looks slightly inexperienced and that is one area that they might struggle. However, Coetzee, Jansen and Maharaj have experience of playing against India, which will be key. The batting unit looks stacked with multiple power-hitters.

Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Ryan Rickelton, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Patrick Kruger, Ottneil Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj

India:

India have named a young squad but all the players have played a lot of T20 cricket and it's a massive opportunity for them to make a mark and seal their spot in the playing XI.

Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal