The first of five T20 internationals between India and South Africa takes place in Delhi on Thursday and we take a look at the squads, recent form and the all important betting
Let's start with the squads.
KL Rahul skippers the Indian 18 man squad which is missing some big names but does include some youngsters who enjoyed success in the recent IPL.
India: KL Rahul (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (vc, wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik
The Proteas are led by Temba Bavuma, de Kock, Miller and Rabada are other senior players, Wayne Parnell is back in the fold youngster Tristan Stubbs has earned a call up.
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (C), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Marco Jansen
Recent Form
India have won each of their last 12 T20 internationals which includes 3-0 clean sweeps of home series' against West Indies and Sri Lanka in February this year and New Zealand in November last year.
The Proteas haven't been in T20 action since the World Cup late last year. They lost just 1 of their 5 pool matches (to Australia) but failed to make the play offs after finishing third to England and the Aussies on net run rate. The loss to the Aussies is the Proteas only defeat in their last 12 matches in this format.
Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 15 times with India winning 9 to South Africa's 6.
The most recent series came in India in November 2019 and it was shared 1-1
The Betting - 1st T20
At the time of writing India are 8/15 to win the match and South Africa are 29/20
KL Rahul is 5/2 to top score for India, Quinton de Kock is 11/4 to do likewise for the Proteas
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
None of the IPL matches were staged at this venue and India have played only 2 T20's at this ground so the pitch report will be a handy weapon to have.
This could get messy as India are a formidable opponent but my first thought is that South Africa might be a touch over priced in the match result market and I'll have a nibble at the Proteas to draw first blood in what is a long series.
South Africa performed better than expected in the World Cup and although not seen since in this format their big names were involved in the IPL. Those who swerved the Bangladesh test series need to rise to the occasion and I wouldn't write them off.
Additional interest comes in the shape of Rabada to be top SA wicket taker and Quinton de Kock to be Man of the Match,
Bets: South Africa to win at 29/20
Top SA Wicket Taker Rabada at 11/4
Man of the Match de Kock at 9/1
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Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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