Big picture: Two contrasting T20I runs
Since then, though, the fortunes of the two teams have taken different paths, especially in T20Is.
On the other end are South Africa who have struggled since that defeat in the World Cup final. Right after that loss, they went down 3-0 to West Indies in Tarouba while their series against Ireland in Abu Dhabi finished 1-1. A loss in Durban is unlikely to do their confidence any favour.
Now down 1-0 in the four-match series, South Africa will be desperate to get back to winning ways at a venue where they have had success. They’ve registered three out of four T20I wins in Gqeberha which includes one against India last year. Can they do it against an Indian side who are on a golden run in T20Is?
Form guide
South Africa LOL (last five T20Is, most recent first)
India WWWWW
In the spotlight: Gerald Coetzee and Arshdeep Singh
Team news: Will India hand Ramandeep a debut?
Nqabayomzi Peter looked out of sorts in the opening T20I and could be replaced by Ottneil Baartman, who can boost the fast-bowling attack. Reeza Hendricks missed the opening T20I due to illness, and if fit, is likely to slot back in at the top of the order. It remains to be seen if he comes in place of Ryan Rickelton or Patrick Kruger, who had a tough outing in Durban – both with bat and ball.
South Africa (probable): 1 Ryan Rickelton (wk), 2 Aiden Markram (capt), 3 Tristan Stubbs, 4 Heinrich Klaasen, 5 David Miller, 6 Partrick Kruger, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Andile Simelane, 9 Gerald Coetzee, 10 Keshav Maharaj, 11 Nqabayomzi Peter/Ottneil Baartman
It was slightly surprising to see India go with three spinners in Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi and Varun Chakravarthy. In Gqeberha, where the surface is likely to aid more pace, they might look to bring in Ramandeep Singh, who can play the finisher’s role and provide a few overs with his medium pace. India are unlikely to make any changes in their batting unit.
India (probable): 1 Sanju Samson (wk), 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Axar Patel/Ramandeep Singh, 8 Arshdeep Singh, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Avesh Khan, 11 Varun Chakravarthy
Pitch and conditions
There is a bit of rain in the air in Gqeberha, but it is unlikely to affect the match. The surface is likely to have plenty in it for the fast bowlers with good bounce and carry. The temperature is likely to hover around the low to mid 20 degrees on the Celcius scale.
Stats and trivia
- Hardik Pandya, currently on 87 T20I wickets, has a chance to leapfrog Arshdeep (88), Bumrah (89) and Bhuvneshwar (90) and move to second on India’s all-time T20I wicket-takers list
- Sanju Samson became just the fourth batter to score successive T20I centuries in Durban. No batter has scored three consecutive centuries in T20Is to date
- Samson’s strike rate of 180.66 is the highest for any Full Member batter in 2024 with a minimum of 300 runs
- India have a terrific T20I record against South Africa in South Africa: seven wins and three losses in ten matches
Quotes
“When you’re playing an opponent like South Africa, we know the energy they bring with them and they have a really great team walking in and they play their cricket really aggressively. We just have to respect them and do what we are known for. We are the world champions at the moment, so I think we have to play like that and we just have to take care of what is in our control and just keep on looking to dominate in this format, which we have been doing for last one year.”
Sanju Samson says India will keep on going hard with the bat irrespective of the opposition
“We were just in the final of a T20 World Cup. Now is a new team. There is a World Cup coming up the year after, so we need new blood. There is plenty of talent, we’ve seen that. It’s just the boys need experience, need to sharpen their skills and we’ll be good to go.”
Gerald Coetzee isn’t thinking too much about South Africa’s recent loss of form
Ashish Pant is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo
