South Africa, who lost the final of the T20 World Cup 2024 against India, will be taking on the same opponents in the upcoming four-match T20I series with the first game set to be played at the Kingsmead in Durban. Ever since a heartbreaking afternoon in Bridgetown earlier this year, South Africa haven’t had the best of outings in the T20I format, losing four out of five games, although they didn’t have most of their first choice players at their disposal during these matches.
On the other side, the visitors India have been quite consistent in the T20I format since winning the coveted World Cup trophy, but the upcoming challenge against South Africa in their own conditions will be quite tough to say the least. The upcoming four-match T20I series will be quite an exciting one for the fans to watch since both the squads are quite strong with a lot of experience in the shortest format of the game.
In this article, SportsTiger looks at South Africa’s probable playing XI versus India for the first T20I at the Kingsmead in Durban.
Openers: Ryan Rickelton, Reeza Hendricks
Ryan Rickelton and Reeze Hendricks were exceptional with the bat at the top of the order for South Africa against Ireland in the two-match T20I series in the UAE, but despite that, the middle order were not quite able to capitalise, which meant that they lost one of the games. Regardless, these two batters will be key to South Africa’s success in the upcoming four-match T20I series at home against India later this month.
Middle Order: Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller
Aiden Markram hasn’t been in the best of forms in the T20I circuit for quite some time, but still, his leadership is going to be vital for South Africa to get the better of India in the series. Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, and David Miller are the backbone of the South African middle order in the T20I format for the past few months, making quite a lot of runs together against various opponents in different conditions.
The ability of these three batters to chase gears swifty could be very difficult for India to handle in the upcoming four-match series on batting friendly pitches in South Africa.
All-Rounder: Marco Jansen
Marco Jansen has developed into a genuine all-rounder for South Africa in all formats of the game in the past couple of years. Although the stronger suit is bowling for the left-arm pacer, he has the talent and the skill to take the attack to the opposition with the bat in the shortest format of the game.
Bowlers: Keshav Maharaj, Gerald Coetzee, Lutho Sipamla, Ottneil Baartman
Keshav Maharaj, the left-arm spinner, brings balance and depth to the South African bowling attack, and his wicket-taking prowess in the middle overs of a T20I game are second to none. Gerald Coetzee, Lutho Sipamla, and Ottneil Baartman will looking to hurry the Indian batters with genuine pace in South African conditions, and their performances as a collective unit could go a long way in winning the four-match T20I series for the hosts.