After a fantastic victory in the recently concluded T20I series against Australia, India will host South Africa for a limited-overs bilateral series in their final assignment ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022.
The tour is scheduled to commence on September 28, 2022. Three T20Is followed by three ODIs will be held across six venues.
South Africa are fresh from their Test series loss to England. Nonetheless, they did win the T20I leg of that tour 2-1 and will be banking on the positives when they take on India.
Talking about the squads, India have retained the majority of the team that featured against Australia. Arshdeep Singh, who was rested for Australia T20Is, returns to bolster the bowling attack.
Moreover, Mohammad Shami and Deepak Hooda are yet to recover from COVID-19 and back injury respectively and are set to miss out. Umesh Yadav and Shreyas Iyer have been roped in as replacements.
Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya and seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been rested for this series. Shahbaz Ahmed comes in place of the former.
"Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be reporting to the NCA for conditioning-related work during the course of the home series against Australia and South Africa," a BCCI media release said before the commencement of the Australia series.
On the other hand, the Proteas are going ahead with the same full-strength squad that will feature in next month’s ICC T20 World Cup as well.
After a poor run of results in the ODIs coupled with a cancelled three-game ODI series against Australia early next year, their direct qualification scenario for the 50-over World Cup in 2023 is in jeopardy and hence the outcome of the three ODIs here will shape their fate for next year’s marquee event.
As for India, they will look to improve their death bowling and the same will face a litmus test against a strong Proteas’ batting line-up.
When the two sides met earlier this year in a five-match T20I series in India, it ended 2-2 with the final match getting abandoned due to rain.
Interestingly, India are looking for their first-ever T20I bilateral series win against South Africa at home.
India vs South Africa 2022 T20I squads
India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (captain), Quinton De Kock (wicket-keeper), Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Bjorn Fortuin, Marco Jansen, Andile Phehlukwayo
India vs South Africa 2022 ODI squads
India: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubhman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Rajat Patidar, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Mohammad Siraj, Washington Sundar
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (captain), Quinton de Kock (wicket-keeper), Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi
India vs South Africa 2022: Schedule and live match times
| Day and Date | Match | Venue | Time |
| Wednesday, September 28 | 1st T20I | Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | 7:00 PM |
| Sunday, October 02 | 2nd T20I | Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati | 7:00 PM |
| Tuesday, October 04 | 3rd T20I | Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore | 7:00 PM |
| Thursday, October 06 | 1st ODI | Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow | 1:30 PM |
| Sunday, October 09 | 2nd ODI | JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi | 1:30 PM |
| Tuesday, October 11 | 3rd ODI | Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi | 1:30 PM |
Where to watch India vs South Africa 2022 series live in India?
The India vs South Africa 2022 T20I series will be telecast live on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 Hindi, and their respective HD TV channels in India.
For regional coverage, India vs South Africa 2022 T20I matches will be live on Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports 1 Telugu, and Star Sports 1 Kannada.
Live streaming of the India vs South Africa 2022 T20I series will be available on the Disney+ Hotstar app and website.
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Featured photo: Sajjad HUSSAIN / AFP
