🏏South Africa vs India, 2nd T20I: At St George's Park, Gqeberha 🏏

🏏South Africa vs India, 2nd T20I: At St George's Park, Gqeberha on 12/12/2023 at 8:30PM IST 🏏

India, SA look to ramp up prep for T20 World Cup

The eyes will be on the skies once again with rain forecast at St. George's Park on Tuesday afternoon

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.

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. So 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.

For fringe players, then, this series presents a massive opportunity. South Africa 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. We often hear that there's no substitute for experience, and some of the players mentioned above will get that over the course of the next two weeks.

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.

Thanks for the tag

India vs South Africa Pitch Report

The average score at the venue is 145, indicating that the forthcoming encounter might not be a high scoring one. The toss winning skipper is likely to opt to field first.

India vs South Africa Weather Report

There is a chance of heavy rain throughout the match. Clouds will be present and playing conditions will be gloomy. It should not spring a surprise if the match gets called off. Temperatures will be around 17 degrees Celsius.

Team news:

South Africa:

Lungi Ngidi’s withdrawal with a sprained ankle on Friday further erodes the experience in a fast bowling department that is already without the rested Kagiso Rabada and the injured Anrich Nortjé. The batting lineup is without Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen.

Possible XI: Reeza Hendricks, Matthew Breetzke, Tristan Stubbs, Aiden Markram (capt), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Gerald Coetzee, Nandré Burger, Tabraiz Shamsi

India:

This game — and the series — sees the return of some of India’s regulars who took a break during the T20Is against Australia that came right after the ODI World Cup. Axar Patel, who played against Australia, isn’t part of the T20I squad now, making way for Ravindra Jadeja's straightforward return.

Possible XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh

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, albeit still without a guarantee of a T20 World Cup place. Hendricks was South Africa's fourth-highest T20I run-scorer in 2022 but played half the number of games of the second- and third-highest players, and three fewer than their top scorer. This year, Hendricks is South Africa's leading run-scorer. In his last 11 T20I innings, he has made seven half-centuries, and should be a certain pick for next year's T20 World Cup. A few more solid performances will confirm his place.

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. With his unusual run-up, he might pose a new challenge to a South Africa line-up that still struggles against the trickier legspinners, and who have not faced him in this format. Bishnoi played his only ODI to date against South Africa in October last year, where he took 1 for 69 in eight overs, but is expected to present more of a threat in the shorter format.

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.
• Arshdeep Singh is India's leading T20I bowler this year, with 25 wickets at 23.68. From Full-Member countries, he is the second-highest wicket-taker in 2023.
• David Miller could play his 100th T20I innings for South Africa on Tuesday. In 99 innings, he has hit 106 sixes. No other South African has hit more sixes than Miller in T20Is.

What they said:

“You’d like to know them on a deeper level before going into the series with them. We’ve had a few good days together trying to get to know them and understanding what makes them tick. The nature of cricket is that series come thick and fast and there’ll be times when new guys are in and they are going to have to find their feet quickly, and we are going to do our best to help them settle down and be as relaxed as they can be in the environment. It’s a tricky one but the group we have here is a great bunch of guys.” — Aiden Markram on captaining the relative strangers in his team.

“The guys I’m watching in T20 cricket right now are very expressive. They don’t have a lot of fear of failure. Whatever happens — if they do well or if they don’t get runs on that given day — their attitude remains the same on and off the field. That balance is really important when you play this sport.” — Suryakumar Yadav on the irresistible impetuousness of T20’s younger players

When: December 12, 2023; 5pm Local Time (8.30pm IST)

Where: St George's Park, Gqeberha

What to expect: A match of middling totals but more importantly the weather is set to be fair. The last T20I match here was in February 2020 between South Africa and Australia, when Kane Richardson and Lungi Ngidi were among the wickets.

Disclaimer: This is just a prediction. Not a personal opinion.

Probable Top Performers from SA vs IND

Probable Best Batter: Suryakumar Yadav

The stand-in India captain is also the top-ranked batter in T20I cricket. He played a fantastic knock in the first T20I in the five-match series against Australia, scoring 80 runs off just 42 balls. However, he was dismissed for scores of 19, 39, 1, and 5 in the subsequent games. Suryakumar doesn't stay quiet for too long in the shortest format of the game and he could cut loose on the South African bowling line-up that will be without the experienced pace trio of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, and Lungi Ngidi.

Probable Best Bowler: Gerald Coetzee

Coetzee is one of the most talented young pacers going around in world cricket. He was in surreal form during the ODI World Cup 2023 as he picked up 20 wickets in eight games at an average of 19.80 and a strike rate of 19.05. Coetzee has pace on his side and can bowl the hard lengths as well as the yorkers. This will be the first time the youngster would bowl to the Indian batters as he was left out of South Africa's playing XI for the World Cup game against the Asian giants at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.