South Africa Tour Of India 2022, IND Playing XI vs SA (Predicted), 1st T20I

South Africa Tour Of India 2022, IND Playing XI vs SA (Predicted), 1st T20I. After an enthralling victory over Australia in the final game to take the series 2-1, India will be gearing up to take on South Africa for a three-match T20I series.

The first match of the series will be played at Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram on 28th September from 7 pm onwards. This will be the second time South Africa visiting India to play a T20I series in 2022.

India came back stronger against Australia after losing the first T20I game despite posting above 200. They won the second T20I game- a rain-curtailed 8-over affair by 6 wickets and the third T20I by 6 wickets. Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav both scored half-centuries to win the 3rd T20I for India with one ball to spare. Spinner Axar Patel was named man of the series for picking 8 wickets with the ball. This was India’s first T20I series win in 15 years against Australia.

South Africa’s success in this T20I format took a turn last year. Since then they have won 5 out of the 6 T20 series and have drawn one. The drawn series one came against India when they visited them in June. The Proteas were 2-0 up in the 5-match series but lost the next two T20Is by big margins. They are yet to lose a T20I series in India. Out of three T20I series on Indian soil, they have won one and have drawn 2.

A series win against Australia showed India’s plus as well as minus points clearly. As a batting unit, they have gathered the best squad to go to the ICC World T20I next month. Except for KL Rahul, the top order has been playing some next-level game. KL Rahul’s consistency and strike rate are yet to justify his place.

On the other hand, other batters Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav in the top order depict a completely different picture. Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, and Axar Patel in the middle have bought more stability to the Indian side, but Hardik Pandya has been rested for this series.

Dinesh Karthik has played the role of the finisher in many games since his comeback. Axar Patel who replaced Ravindra Jadeja in the playing 11 was the leading wicket-taker in the Australia series with 8 wickets and took the player of the series award.

With the batting and all-rounder unit performing well above expectations, India’s drawbacks lie in its bowling department. Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel are yet to find their feet after the injury. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been consistent throughout the year but he has been rested for the upcoming Proteas series.

BCCI has added Shreyas Iyer and Shahbaz Ahmed to their squad for the upcoming three-match series against Proteas. The development comes after it was learned that Deepak Hooda has been ruled out of the T20I series due to a back spasm and in his place, Shreyas Iyer has been recalled into the India squad whereas Shahbaz Ahmed has been called as a replacement for Hardik Pandya, who has been rested.

Mohammad Shami has failed to recover from Covid-19 and has been ruled out of the series against South Africa. In his place, Umesh Yadav, who was named as his replacement for the Australia series, will continue to be with the squad.

South Africa Tour Of India 2022, IND Playing XI vs SA (Predicted), 1st T20I

Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma will be the skipper of India in the T20I series against South Africa and will lead the team in the 1st T20I as well. He will be an opener for the team in the match. The right-handed batter failed to score a good knock in the 1st T20I against Australia as he got out for just 11 runs. He started well with a six and a four but got out soon.

In the 2nd T20I against Australia, Rohit Sharma played a captain’s innings by leading from the front and also won MOM for his outstanding 20 balls unbeaten 46. His innings were laced with 4 fours and as many sixes as India successfully chased the 91 runs target in an 8 overs-curtailed match due to wet outfield. In the 3rd T20I, he scored 17 runs off 14 balls before Pat Cummins dismissed him.

KL Rahul

KL Rahul will be the other opener for the team in the 1st T20I against Proteas. The right-handed batter slammed a wonderful knock in the 1st T20I against Australia. He slammed 55 runs off 35 balls, smashing 3 sixes and 4 boundaries. KL Rahul scored only 10 off 6 balls including a six before he was bowled by Adam Zampa. He failed again in the 3rd T20I against Australia, scoring only 1 run off 4 balls before edging one to Matthew Wade off Daniel Sams.

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli might be the no.3 batter for the team in the 1st T20I against Proteas. The right-handed batsman did not get a good start in the series. He got out for just 2 runs in the 1st T20I. He was looking good in the 2nd T20I before being bowled by Adam Zampa after scoring 11 off 6 balls including 2 boundaries. He scored 63 off 48 balls in the 3rd T20I and was involved in a 104-run 3rd wicket partnership with Suryakumar Yadav as India successfully chased 187 against Australia.

For Virat Kohli, his ton against Afghanistan in an Asia Cup Super 4 match was relieving, to say the least. After over 1000 days, Virat Kohli scored a ton in international cricket. His 122* off 61 balls against Afghanistan was also the highest-ever individual score in T20I cricket by an Indian. The former Indian skipper scored 276 runs in five innings at an average of 92 in Asia Cup 2022.

Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav might be a middle-order batsman for India in the 1st T20I match against Proteas. The right-handed batsman shattered a brilliant knock of 46 runs off 25 balls in the 1st T20I game against Australia. At a strike rate of 184+, Suryakumar Yadav shattered 4 sixes in the match.

He was lbw in the 2nd T20I off Adam Zampa. He was out for a first-ball duck in that game before bagging a Man of the Match performance by top scoring with 69 off 36 balls in the 3rd T20I against Australia. He was the 2nd highest run-getter of the series after Cameron Green (118) with 115 runs averaging 38.33. Suryakumar Yadav revealed he wasn’t well during the previous night as the medical team scrambled to treat him ahead of the series decider.

Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik may again be preferred ahead of Rishabh Pant in the 1st T20I against Proteas. In the opening T20I game against Aussies, Dinesh Karthik got out after scoring just 6 runs off 5 balls. He did a good job behind the stumps, picking crucial catches.

Both Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik played the 2nd T20I but the former wasn’t required to bat while the finisher Dinesh Karthik hit a four and a six to remain unbeaten on 10 off 2 balls hitting the winning runs. Rishabh Pant was dropped for the 3rd T20I, while Dinesh Karthik scored 1 off 1 and remained unbeaten in the 3rd T20I against Australia.

Axar Patel

Axar Patel might be another all-rounder for the Indian team in the 1st T20I against Proteas. The left-arm spinner picked the most 3 wickets for the team in the 1st T20I against Australia. In his 4 overs, Axar Patel conceded just 17 runs and picked 3 wickets for the team. With the bat, he could only score 5 runs though. He picked the crucial scalps of Aaron Finch, Cameron Green and Josh Inglis.

Axar Patel continued his rich vein of form in the 2nd T20I against the Aussies by picking the scalps of Glenn Maxwell and Tim David. Both were bowled. His figures read 2-0-13-2. In the 3rd T20I, he recorded figures of 4-0-33-3. He picked the wickets of Aaron Finch, Josh Inglis, and Matthew Wade and also affected the run-out of Glenn Maxwell. He was the leading wicket-taker in the series with 8 wickets in 3 T20Is at an average of 7.88.

Ravichandran Ashwin

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin may get a game after a while in the 1st T20I against Proteas in Hardik Pandya’s absence. Ravichandran Ashwin was retained for the New Zealand home series after the conclusion of the 2021 T20I World Cup (where he returned to the T20I setup after 4 years) and was dropped later.

And after a gap of eight months, he was brought back for the 5-match T20Is against hosts West Indies, where he picked 3 scalps in as many games.  He also picked 2 scalps in 2 Asia Cup 2022 games. Shreyas Iyer may also get a game.

Yuzvendra Chahal

Yuzvendra Chahal will be one of the spinners in the 1st T20I against Proteas. The right-arm spinner Yuzvendra Chahal picked 1 wicket in the 1st T20I match against Australia and conceded 42 runs in his 3.2 overs. At an economy of 12.60, he was a bit expensive.

He played the 2nd shortened T20I conceding 12 runs in his only over. In the 3rd T20I, he picked 1/22 in 4 overs. He picked the wicket of Steven Smith.

Arshdeep Singh

Arshdeep Singh, the young Indian pacer became one of the major highlights of Asia Cup 2022, for both right and wrong reasons. The Punjab bowler, who made his international debut in the T20I against England this year, has played 11 T20I matches and scalped 14 wickets so far averaging 20.14.

During the Asia Cup Super 4 clash against Pakistan, Arshdeep Singh dropped a relatively easy catch on Asif Ali, following which he had to face a lot of flak on social media. India lost to Pakistan as Arshdeep Singh failed to defend seven runs in the last over. He was rested for the Australia series but would play the Proteas series in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. India missed Arshdeep Singh’s services in the series against Australia as Harshal Patel has proved to be extremely expensive on the comeback from injury.

Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar reported at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for conditioning-related work during the course of the home series against Australia and South Africa. Arshdeep Singh missed out on the series against Australia, while Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will not feature in the series against South Africa.

Harshal Patel

Upon his return from an injury suffered before Asia Cup 2022, Harshal Patel played 3 T20Is against Australia in the series and picked 1 wicket only. Moreover, he also conceded a lot of runs. In the 1st T20I, he was carted away for 49 runs in his 4 overs. In the 2nd T20I, he conceded 32 runs in his 2 overs. He did a bit well in the 3rd T20I against Australia, picking 1/18 in 2 overs including the wicket of Tim David. He would want to do well in the 1st T20I against Proteas.

Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah replaced Umesh Yadav who took 2 scalps but conceded 22 runs in 2 overs in the 1st T20I. In the 2nd T20I, Jasprit Bumrah bowled 2 overs and picked the prized scalp of skipper Aaron Finch who was looking dangerous scoring 31 off 15 by clean bowling him. He conceded 23 runs. He played the 3rd T20I against Australia, but was too expensive conceding 50 runs in 4 overs and remained wicketless.