Big picture: T20 World Cup final rematch
In another sense, it is not. Many protagonists from that final will not be in action in this series. Of India’s eleven for the final, only four (Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya Axar Patel and Arshdeep Singh) are part of the current squad. South Africa will also be without Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Tabraiz Shamsi.
Therefore, this four-game series might seem inconsequential. But don’t forget, the next T20 World Cup is just 15 months away and teams have already started preparing.
South Africa has yet to recover from its defeat in the final. Since then, they lost 3-0 to the West Indies and drew 1-1 against Ireland in the format. Now playing at home, can they recover?
forms guide
South Africa LWLLL (last five T20Is, most recent first)
India WWWW
In the spotlight: Aiden Markram and Tilak Varma
Team News: Debuts for Simelane, Peter and Ramandeep?
South Africa (probable): 1 Reeza Hendricks, 2 Ryan Rickelton (wk), 3 Aiden Markram (captain), 4 Tristan Stubbs, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 David Miller, 7 Marco Jansen/Gerald Coetzee, 8 Andile Simelane, 9 Nqabayomzi Peter, 10 Keshav Maharaj, 11 years old Ottneil Baartman
India are likely to hand over all-rounder Ramandeep Singh his T20I cap. Axar Patel should also get a chance after warming the bench during the New Zealand Test series.
India (probable): 1 Sanju Samson (wk), 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Suryakumar Yadav (captain), 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Ramandeep Singh, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Avesh Khan, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Varun Chakravarthy
Course and conditions: Runs ‘n Rains
Stats and trivia: Suryakumar’s scoring rate
Quotes
“It’s been a trying few months. Obviously we’ve addressed the reasons behind it, the opportunities for growth, the things that will make cricketers better in South Africa over a long period of time. But as captain, obviously, it hurts. Your pride and I are very proud to wear this badge and we want to take it forward and obviously we want to win matches and series for South Africa, but you look at the bigger picture, you look at how much it is going to help cricket in South Africa moving forward. “Sometimes you have to go through tough times and hopefully there will be some light at the end of the tunnel for us as a team.”
Aiden Markram on South Africa’s poor bilateral record this year
“It has always been a challenge to play against South Africa, be it in the T20 World Cup or any bilateral match. The last time we were here, we had a good series. Hopefully, we will get a match.” [tomorrow]; Last time we missed the game here. But yeah, it’s always fun and challenging and both sides enjoy having that great competition.”
Suryakumar Yadav on playing South Africa for the first time since the T20 World Cup final
Hemant Brar is deputy editor of ESPNcricinfo
