India is all set to host South Africa for a five-match T20I series and the first encounter will take place on June 9 (Thursday) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi from 7:00 pm. India will be looking to finalise their squad and offer a chance to newbies to showcase their skillsets ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November this year.
During their tour to South Africa earlier this year, India lost the Test series 2-1 and the ODI series 3-0. Though India will be without their key players, the team has not lost a T20I series at home since 2018. Earlier this year, they secured thumping wins against Sri Lanka and West Indies.
However, India suffered a huge setback after captain KL Rahul and chinaman Kuldeep Yadav was on Wednesday ruled out of the series due to injuries, BCCI said in a statement.
READ | KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav Ruled Out Of T20 Series Against South Africa, Rishabh Pant To Lead
Wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant, who was named as Rahul's deputy, will captain the side. Hardik Pandya has been named as vice-captain for the series.
After the first T20I in New Delhi, the teams will travel to Cuttack for the second match on June 12, Vizag on June 14, Rajkot on June 17, and Bengaluru on June 19 to conclude the series.
Where To Watch India Vs South Africa T20 Series?
The first T20I match between India vs South Africa in New Delhi will be telecast live on Star Sports network. The match can be viewed on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 3, and Star Sports 3 HD channels. Live streaming of the India vs South Africa match will be available on Disney+ Hotstar from 7 pm.
India's squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (captain)(wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik.