4th T20I preview: India look to end memorable year with series win in South Africa
India will look to cap off what has been a brilliant year for them in T20Is with a series win in South Africa.
Suryakumar Yadav’s men will take on South Africa in the T20I series finale in Johannesburg on Friday, November 16, having already pocketed an unbeatable series 2-1 series lead. India won the T20 World Cup and lost only two out of 25 T20Is in the year in which they redefined their style of playing the format.
Rohit Sharma started a fearless approach on his return to the Indian team in a series against Afghanistan at home and carried forward the ruthlessness in a perfect T20 World Cup campaign in the USA and the West Indies.
Contrary to expectations, India appointed Suryakumar Yadav as their captain post the World Cup in place of Hardik Pandya, who was in line to replace Rohit Sharma. The move seems to have worked well for India with Suryakumar continuing the mantra that worked well for India in 2024.
Suryakumar said his captancy is inspired by Rohit’s leadership with a bit of his masala added to it.
Like Rohit, Suryakumar has taken bold calls and paid the dividends for it. Even in the ongoing series, the team management backed Abhishek Sharma despite his lean patch and he repaid the faith shown in him with a fifty in the 3rd T20I in Centurion on Wednesday. Varun Chakravarthy and Sanju Samson have also been able to prove the team management’s call right with some stellar performances in the recent past.
On Friday, India will be a confident bunch after having bounced back from a loss in the second T20I to win the third in Centurion by 11 runs. India’s batting failed to click in Gqberha, but Tilak Varma’s maiden T20I hundred and Arshdeep Singh’s bowling heroics saw them survive a Marco Jansen scare in the third T20I.
TEAM NEWS, SA vs IND 4th T20I
Will India give a game to uncapped Yash Dayal and Vijaykumar Vyshak? While Ramandeep Singh got his maiden cap in Centurion, the two pacers have warmed the benches throughout. India have a dilemma to address as they wouldn’t want to tamper with their winning combination in the series decider.
Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma are expected to get another go at the top together before the other big names, including Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad, return to the frame next year.
India will look to back their spin trio of Varun, Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi. However, if conditions allow an extra pacer, we might see a debutant on Friday.
South Africa, on the other hand, will not look to chop and change too much. However, fast bowler Ottneil Baartman might get a go in the series finale.
SA vs IND, 4th T20I: PREDICTED PLAYING 11s
India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakrvarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Yash Dayal.
South Africa: Ryan Rickelton, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen(w), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Ottneil Baartman.
PITCH AND CONDITIONS IN JOHANNESBURG
200-plus totals have been scored in each of the two T20is held at the venue in the last two years. Suryakumar Yadav hit a hundred in 2023 here and Kuldeep Yadav took a five-wicket haul to run through the South African batting unit.
The pitch at the venue is expected to be one that offers plenty of runs.
With a bit of rain expected before the start of the match, both teams might look to add some pace to their battery.
STATS TO LOOK FORWARD TO
India won three of the five bilateral series played in South Africa. Friday presents them with an opportunity to extend their dominance in T20Is n the Rainbow Nation.
Varun Chakrvarthy needs three more wickets to break the all-time record for most wickets in a bilateral T20I series. He has 10 in three matches.