The 1st t20i between India vs South Africa was washed out due to rain. As expected, all tickets for this match were sold out by the end of last month so it is very unfortunate for the fans that the match could not be played at Durban but let’s hope and wait for a thrilling contest between bowl and bat in second and third t20i in this 3-match t20 series.
As per series schedule 2nd and 3rd t20i matches are scheduled in Gqebera and Johannesburg on Tuesday and Thursday respectively but the main worry would be the weather again as cloudy weather is being forecasted for the whole week.
For South Africa, this T20i series would be the last before they announce their T20i world cup squad that will start from June-2024 in the USA and West Indies. For India,they are left with 2 matches in this series and one more t20 series with Afghanistan in January 2024 to try and find the best t20 combination for their team before the t20 world cup 2024. But both teams will also be focusing on SA20 league and IPL for their best possible combinations.
This series is very important for the new players to perform with the bat and ball respectively to impress selectors for the upcoming t20i world cup. Like South Africa could have new debutant bowlers namingly left-arm quick Nandre Burger and right-arm medium fast Ottniel Baartman. Similarly on India side there is no debutant but few players have played very few t20i matches like Rinku Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Muhammad Siraj and Jitesh Sharma.
Another challenge for India t20i side is who is gonna lead the team in upcoming t20i world cup because still it’s been no clarity from BCCI in this regard as Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and now Suryakumar Yadav have been captaining the t20i side. In order to make things clear, the board should finalise one captain for this coming mega event as soon as possible so that the whole team could shape up well around one captain.