After thumping Bangladesh in the three-match T20I series last month, the Indian T20I cricket team, which has a lot of new faces, will be going on their first overseas assignment in South Africa, which will be a challenging one. On the tricky and bouncy pitches of South Africa, this series will be the real test for the T20 World Champions.
This four-match series, including the two matches against Ireland, will be just the second T20I series the Proteas play after their World Cup final defeat against India. These two teams played in the edge-of-the-seat thriller final match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in June.
The upcoming matches and the SA vs Ind T20 2024 series will be played on South African pitches that offer a lot of uneven bounce for the bowlers. The fast bowlers will enjoy bowling here, and the batters will also receive some help as the ball will come nicely on the bat and plenty of run-scoring opportunities will be there.
The series will begin on November 8, 2024, with the first match to be played in the Kingsmead Stadium, Durban. It is going to be a thrilling series with both teams having competitive sides who can score a lot of runs. Below is the complete preview of the forthcoming SA vs Ind series on the GUGOBET cricket betting app.
South Africa vs India: Schedule
The schedule for the four T20I matches that will be played on this India tour of South Africa is listed below. The matches will be played across four different cities in South Africa and are expected to be nail-biting thrillers.
| Match | Venue | Date | Time (IST) |
| 1st T20I | Durban | November 8, 2024 | 8:30 pm |
| 2nd T20I | Gqeberha | November 10, 2024 | 7:30 pm |
| 3rd T20I | Centurion | November 13, 2024 | 8:30 pm |
| 4th T20I | Johannesburg | November 15, 2024 | 8:30 pm |
What is India’s win rate against South Africa?
As far as the shortest format is concerned, India has a superior win rate to South Africa in the matches played between these two teams in T20Is. Out of the total 27, India has won 15 whereas the Proteas have won only 11. One match ended with no result earlier. This counts for almost 56% of the win rate by India against South Africa in T20 international matches.
What are the odds for India vs South Africa?
As it stands, the home team are the favourites to win the series against the men in blue by a slight margin. The home advantage has worked in South Africa’s favour a bit as both teams stand an equal chance of winning at any neutral venue. South Africa have a 52% chance of winning the match and the series, whereas India have 48%.
What are India’s chances in the WTC final?
After three shocking and humiliating defeats against the New Zealand cricket team at home, Team India finds themselves in a precarious position concerning the ICC World Test Championship 2023-2025 final. On their upcoming tour to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar trophy, they need to win at least four matches and lose zero to qualify for the final without depending on any other teams. They could still make it to the final if they don’t win four matches and other results go their way.
How many matches should South Africa win to qualify for the WTC final?
South Africa needs to win a maximum of their pending test matches to qualify for the WTC final 2025. They will be playing all the matches at home and will have an advantage over any team that will be visiting the South African shores. At the moment, the Proteas seem to be the favourites to qualify for the World Test Championship final.
South Africa vs India: Squads
The squads of both South Africa and India for the upcoming India tour of South Africa 2024 are mentioned below, along with the complete analysis and predicted playing 11s.
South Africa
South Africa Squad: Aiden Markram (c), Ottneil Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Patrick Kruger, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Mihlali Mpongwana, Nqaba Peter, Ryan Rickelton, Andile Simelane, Lutho Sipamla, and Tristan Stubbs
One big name missing from the squad is Kagiso Rabada, who has been rested for this series to get prepared for the upcoming crucial test matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Tabrazi Shamsi and Anrich Nortje have also not been selected in the squad. Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee are once again back in the team after recovering from their respective injuries. Some new and uncapped additions are there in the squad as well, such as Nqaba Peter, Andile Simelane, Patrick Kruger, etc.
Reeza Hendricks and Rickelton will bat at the top, whereas Markram, Stubbs, Klassen, and Miller will be a part of the middle order. Nqaba Peter might make his debut as the second spinner alongside Keshav Maharaj in the series. The three fast bowlers will be Gerald Coetzee, Marco Jansen, and Ottneil Baartman. Lutho Simpala might also get a game going forward in the series on more pace-friendly pitches.
South Africa Predicted Playing 11: Reeza Hendricks, Ryan Rickelton, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klassen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Nqaba Peter, and Ottneil Baartman.
India
India Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, and Yash Dayal
It is confirmed that Suryakumar Yadav will continue to lead the Indian team in the shortest format of the game. The Indian squad travelling to play against the Proteas this time around consists of a lot of young players who might be going for the first time as international cricketers. Due to some last-minute injuries, Mayank Yadav, Riyan Parag, and Shivam Dube have been replaced by Yash Dayal, Vijaykumar Vyshak, and Ramandeep Singh in the team. The rest of the team is almost similar to the one that played against Bangladesh.
Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson will open the innings, with Suryakumar Yadav all set to bat at number 3 in the series. Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, and Rinku Singh will take care of the middle order. Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi will be the two spinners, whereas Vijaykumar Vyshak and Yash Dayal will be making their T20I debut in this upcoming India tour of South Africa.
India Predicted Playing 11: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, and Yash Dayal.
South Africa vs India: Winner Prediction
Both teams are competitive and have a strong roster. South Africa lacks a little in the fast bowling department, although they have a sensational middle order. India has a fantastic batting lineup but lacks experience, and it cannot be predicted how they will perform on these tough pitches.
Adding to this the home advantage that the Proteas have, it is going to be a huge task for the Indian players to win this series. However, this new-age Indian team fears none and can do the unthinkable. We expect the series to be a close-fought contest right from the beginning and end with a scoreline of 3-1 in favour of the visitors.
South Africa vs India: Key Players
It is now time to predict and see which players could hold the key for their respective teams in this upcoming series, which is very important for both nations to start their preparations for the next T20 World Cup.
South Africa
Many batters in this team are game-changers, such as Aiden Markram, David Miller, Reeza Hendricks, or Heinrich Klaasen, but we are putting our money on Tristan Stubbs to be the x-factor player in this series for the home team. Stubbs is a magnificent cricket player who can tonk the ball as far as possible and can also build the innings. In the last 10 T20Is, he has scored 245 runs at an average of almost 40 and a strike rate of over 151. Stubbs is someone who can save a lot of runs in the field as well and will be the key batter for South Africa in the series.
As for the bowlers, we predict the left-arm pace of Marco Jansen and the left-arm spin of Keshav Maharaj could be difficult to play for the Indian batters.
India
If we go a little out of the box, we are thinking that Abhishek Sharma could be the player who lights up this series with his bat and becomes India’s highest run scorer in the four T20I matches against South Africa. Abhishek is a top player of pace, and his strength is playing against the short ball. On the pitches where the bounce will be extra but the ball will come on the bat nicely, Abhishek can score huge runs at a quick pace for the Indian team. He can also give you 2-3 overs of left-arm spin if required.
The Indian bowling lineup for this series is inexperienced, and most of them will be going to South Africa for the first time in their career to play an international series. However, we predict Ravi Bishnoi to be the pick of all, as his leg-spin will be difficult for the Protean batters to play.
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