India will face South Africa in the T20 Playing 11 match, with the first international T-20 match for India scheduled .
The first match of the T20 series, which is starting here from Sunday, will be a tough test for the Indian Youth Brigade on the bouncy pitches of South Africa. Under the leadership of captain Suryakumar Yadav, the team had won the T20 series against Australia 4-1 at home after the ODI World Cup. Now, the young team will aim to win another T20 series consecutively. Vice-captain Hardik Pandya is out of the team until the start of the IPL, and main fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is on a break. Apart from this, there is no clarity on the T20 future of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma before the T20 World Cup in June, so no one will be able to say much about the team’s success or failure in South Africa.
The situation regarding the Indian core team for the T20 World Cup will become clear only a month after the IPL, as the form and fitness of the players will be assessed at that time. Before the series against Afghanistan in mid-January, the South Africa series will be the final major international T20 series for India.
Shreyas, Mukesh, and Ishan included in all three teams
India has taken 17 players for the T20 series, and only three of them, Shreyas Iyer, Mukesh Kumar, and Ishan Kishan, are also part of the 50-over format. However, the team will face several challenges, including the need to change the defensive tendency of the opening batsman and the number three batsman that proved to be a curse for India in the previous T20 World Cup.
Rituraj cannot be ignored
Yashasvi has already shown that he can play at an aggressive level, and Shubman Gill is now a proven performer.