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Big picture: Is time running out for India, SA?
With the series opener in Durban washed out, both India and South Africa have just five T20Is to nail down their combination for the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA.
The second and third matches in the series will take place on Tuesday and Thursday in Gqeberha and Johannesburg respectively, with rain forecast at St. George’s Park on Tuesday afternoon and cloudy skies over the Wanderers through the week.
The first T20I in Durban was sold out since the end of last month, the other white-ball games are expected to be well attended too, and the financial boost of the entire tour is understood to be in the region of R1 billion (approx. US $52.7million); and all that before we even get to the importance of the cricket.
South Africa have a few new players in the series. They could have two debutants – both bowlers in left-arm quick Nandre Burger, and right-arm medium-fast Ottniel Baartman – and might give opening batter Matthew Breetzke a run in the remaining two games. India don’t have any uncapped players in their touring group, but four of their squad – Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma – have played 10 T20Is or fewer.
These T20Is are the last competitive matches South Africa will play before they have to name their T20 World Cup squad, who will play three matches in the West Indies ahead of the tournament. India have these matches and one more series – against Afghanistan in January – before the T20 World Cup. The importance of finding combinations is amplified for both teams, although they will also rely on performances in T20 leagues, especially the SA20 and IPL, where their mainstays play.
The fixtures roll in thick and fast, with a one-day gap between each of the T20Is, and two before the ODIs start. By then, South Africa will have entered the belly of the holiday season, with mid-December the time for many to put their feet up, grab a cold one and watch some cricket.
The money and interest at play, for example, both sides trying to firm up their 2024 World Cup squad, might give a more logical edge to the intrigue here; that some series effecively ended midway also allows you some sense of how it just felt quite a bit colder and drearier than it has in the 2022 series.
Form guide
South Africa:
LLLLW (Last five matches, most recent first)
India:
WWLWW
In the spotlight: Reeza Hendricks and Ravi Bishnoi
The biggest beneficiary of Quinton de Kock’s unavailability is Reeza Hendricks, who is expected to be given a long overdue run in both white-ball formats. Ravi Bishnoi has enjoyed a dream December so far after finishing as the leading wicket-taker in India’s recent T20I series against Australia, and rising to the top of the ICC’s T20I bowling rankings.
Team news: New faces for South Africa
Breetzke has been confirmed as Hendricks’ partner at the top of the order, but not as the designated wicketkeeper. That leaves South Africa to choose between Tristan Stubbs and Heinrich Klaasen. There could be a debut for Burger, with two spinners to add experience to a young attack. Gerald Coetzee and Marco Jansen will now be available only for the second match before they are released to prepare for the Tests and will field a second-string pace attack in the third match.
Pitch and conditions
The eyes will be on the skies once again, with rain forecast at St. George’s Park on Tuesday afternoon. In the only late afternoon start (5pm) at this venue in the SA20 earlier in January, Paarl Royals chased down 131 against Sunrisers Eastern Cape.
Stats and trivia India have won two of their last four T20I series against South Africa, with the other two being drawn. The last time South Africa beat India in a T20I series was in October 2015, when they had won 2-0 in India.
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