Watch cricket video highlights of India tour of South Africa 2024. First Twenty/20 between South Africa and India. Venue of the match will be Durban.
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South Africans do not have fond recollections of Durban. Last year, Australia thrashed them in three T20Is, all of which were played at this stadium. It’s a high-scoring stadium; the average first-innings total in the past seven T20Is has been 184. However, the weather may ruin everything; there is a 40% probability of rain on Friday. The last time India was scheduled to play a T20I here, in December 2023, weather prevented even the toss. Ramandeep Singh, a batting allrounder, is expected to receive his T20I cap.
Axar Patel should also be given an opportunity after warming the bench during the New Zealand Test series. Andile Simelane, an all-rounder, might make his debut for South Africa. Simelane plays domestic cricket at Kingsmead, which may come in useful. Tilak Varma’s career was put on hiatus earlier this year due to a series of strange hand injuries. While he is back in the mix, the competition has intensified. He was chosen into the Bangladesh T20Is as an injury substitute for Shivam Dube, however he did not play.
Following that, he led India to the Emerging Asia Cup in Oman, where he scored 117 runs in four innings with a strike rate of 120.61. Can he stand up against a much harder opponent? Aiden Markram has only reached 25 once in 14 T20I innings this year. His total for the format is 201, with an average of 16.75 and a strike rate of 118.23. This is in stark contrast to his career statistics: average 32.17, strike rate 144.62. On the eve of the first T20I against India, he stated that he was psychologically prepared.
Both he and South Africa would want that to be translated into runs. In some ways, Friday’s Twenty20 International between South Africa and India is a revenge match. The last time these two teams played was in Barbados, for the 2024 T20 World Cup final. India had no business winning that match when South Africa required 30 runs off 30 balls and had six wickets in hand. But Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and his teammates ripped the victory and the trophy from South Africa’s fingers, leaving them distraught.
In another way, it’s not. Many of the protagonists from that final will not appear in this season. Only four players from India’s final XI remain in the current squad: Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, and Arshdeep Singh. South Africa, too, is missing Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, and Tabraiz Shamsi. Thus, this four-game series may appear insignificant. But don’t forget, the next T20 World Cup is just 15 months away, and countries are already preparing. India recently suffered a stunning whitewash at home at the hands of New Zealand, but only in Test cricket.
Their T20I side, which has never been more different from their Test team, is fresh off a 3-0 series victory against Bangladesh. Continuing their offensive strategy from the World Cup, they scored a massive 297 for 6 in their most recent T20I. South Africa has yet to recuperate from their humiliation in the final. Since then, they’ve lost 3-0 to the West Indies and drawn 1-1 with Ireland in the format. Can they recover while playing at home?
