New Delhi [India]: Former cricketer Aakash Chopra has picked India’s probable XI for the first T20I of the four-match series at the Kingsmead in Durban on Friday.
The Proteas will be facing India in a T20 game for the first time after their defeat against Men in Blue in the T20 World Cup 2024 final on June 29.
“If I look at the XI, there will be a question that will you play Tilak Varma at No. 4 if you play him. You will have to play him because Nitish Kumar Reddy isn’t there and you need some batting depth as well,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Further, the 47-year-old said that either one of Rinku Singh or Tilak Varma will play at No. 4 for the Suryakumar Yadav-led side.
“So my predicted playing XI is Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, and then either Tilak or Rinku at No. 4, Hardik (Pandya) at No. 5, and then Tilak/Rinku at No. 6. So that makes it your batting till No. 6,” the cricketer-turned-commentator added.
The series between India and South Africa begins on November 8 at Kingsmead Cricket Stadium in Durban.
St George’s Park in Gqeberha will host the second T20I on November 10, with the third game scheduled for SuperSport Park in Centurion on November 13. The series concludes with the fourth T20I at Wanderers Stadium on November 15.
India’s T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal.
South Africa T20I squad: Aiden Markram (C), Ottneil Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Patrick Kruger, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Mihlali Mpongwana, Nqaba Peter, Ryan Rickelton, Andile Simelane, Lutho Sipamla (3rd and 4th T20Is), and Tristan Stubbs.