South Africa vs India 2018: India's probable playing 11 for first T20I

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Can India return home with the T20I series as well? For that, they need to start well in Jo'burg

After a comprehensive 5-1 win over South Africa in the ODI series, India will be looking to keep up their momentum in the three-match T20I series, beginning with the first match at the Wanderers on Sunday.

Currently third in the ICC T20I rankings, India know that a whitewash will lift them to second place and take them to within a point of Pakistan, who lead the T20I rankings. After the top three did all the heavy lifting in the ODI series and the spinners continued to bamboozle the Proteas batsmen, the rest of the side will be looking to contribute a bit more in the T20I series, especially with the inclusion of the likes of KL Rahul, Suresh Raina and Jaydev Unadkat to the T20I squad:

Here is India's probable playing 11 for the first T20I against South Africa at the Wanderers:

Openers

Rohit Sharma

Ahead of the tour to South Africa, Rohit Sharma had a terrible Test and ODI record in South Africa. While he couldn't do much about the Test record, he did get an ODI century even if the rest of the series didn't exactly go according to plan. But the T20I series should give him just what he needs.

In the six T20Is that Rohit has played in South Africa, he averages an unreal 141 and has a strike rate of 148. He will be hoping to continue that impressive record and go into the T20I tri-series next month in great form.

KL Rahul

Not picked in the ODI side, KL Rahul is expected to make a comeback for the first T20I at the Wanderers. While Shikhar Dhawan has been in great form throughout the ODI series, Rahul was simply sensational in the previous T20I series against Sri Lanka.

His recent T20I form and Dhawan's far from impressive numbers in the format looks like it will be enough to give him the edge.

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