India vs South Africa 2019: 5 players to watch out for in the T20I series

The South African cricket team will be on a month-long tour of India where they will play a three-match T20 series and a three-match Test series. The tour will kick off with the T20 series and the first match will be played at Dharamsala on the 15th of September.

With the T20 World Cup coming up next year, every T20 series would be crucial, in terms of preparation. Both South Africa and India won their last T20 series quite convincingly. While India recently won a T20 rubber in the West Indies, the Proteas won their last T20 assignment back in March against Sri Lanka.

Both the teams possess a blend of very experienced players and fresh faces, who are eager to make a mark. So, in light of the upcoming India vs South Africa T20 series, let's have a look at 5 players we need to watch out for.

#5 Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya hasn't made a big impact in T20 internationals so far. His exploits in the ODI and Test arena have seen him grow hugely as an international cricketer but his stats in the shortest format are not very impressive.

In 38 T20Is, he has scored 296 runs at an average of 16.44 and he has picked up 36 wickets at an economy rate of 8.32.

Hardik came into the limelight because of T20 cricket. His performance for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL helped him get selected in the Indian team.

In the 2019 IPL, Pandya was on fire with the bat and scored 402 runs at a strike rate of 191.43. He also picked up 14 wickets and provided his team with the requisite balance.

Pandya was rested for the entire West Indies tour and thus, he would be fresh and hungry to perform for his team. He has not featured in a single T20 match after the IPL and hence, it would be interesting to see if he can carry his IPL form into the T20Is against South Africa.

Also see – ICC World Test Championship Schedule