India will be locking horns with South Africa in the opening game of the 5-match T20I series at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Indian team won 3-0 in their last T20I series against Sri Lanka. There are certain chances that India will field 3 wicketkeepers in the form of Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, and Dinesh Karthik. It will be a toss-up between Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan for the third fast bowling option.
The players like Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal have been in top form ahead of this series and will look to continue the same form. On the other hand, South Africa had also registered a 3-0 win over Sri Lanka 3-0 in their last T20I series. Most of the players in the Proteas team were a part of the IPL 2022 this year and will have a basic idea about the condition and pitch in the subcontinent.
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The likes of Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, and Kagiso Rabada will need to be proficient for the team in this fixture. In the 17 meetings between the two sides so far, India is leading the charts 9-16 against the Proteas in the head-to-head battles. In the last 5 meetings, both the teams have won two games each.
India
The last-minute injuries have reduced the Indian squad to just 16 and eased some of the selection headaches. Ishan Kishan, who spent considerable time in the nets addressing his weakness against balls outside off, and Ruturaj Gaikwad will be getting a chance to open the innings, as Rishabh Pant all but confirmed. If Dinesh Karthik indeed earns his place in the XI as a pure finisher, Axar Patel could likely take up the second all-rounder’s slot.
Probable XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (c, wk), Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Bhuvnenshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal
South Africa
As South Africa haven’t played a T20I since November last year, there is a lot of uncertainty of over their playing XI. Temba Bavuma suggested on Wednesday that he would move to the top of the order, but it’s difficult to see why personnel changes need to be made.
Probable XI: Temba Bavuma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi.
Fantasy Suggestion #1:
Quinton de Kock, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan (c), Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Hardik Pandya, Aiden Markram (vc), Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kagiso Rabada and Tabraiz Shamsi.
Fantasy Suggestion #2:
Quinton de Kock (c), Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Dwaine Pretorius, David Miller, Hardik Pandya (vc), Aiden Markram, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada and Tabraiz Shamsi.
