Predicted South African XI for the T20Is against India
Du Plessis will lead the South Africans in the three-match T20 series against IndiaSouth Africa is all set for their longest tour (3 T20Is, 5 ODIs, and 4 tests) to India and have arrived in the Asian country already. Though the transition from the fast and bouncy pitches to the slow turning tracks of the subcontinent is quite difficult, the Indian conditions are very much familiar to many players in the South African line-up, thanks to the Indian Premier League. For the visitors, India is like a home away from their home.The tour, which runs for more than 2 months, will be kick-started with a T20 on October 2nd at Dharamsala and it will be their first-ever Twenty20 international against the Men in Blue in India.Their Test dominance is obviously scary, but the hosts can give a tough fight to the Proteas in the shorter format of the game. In fact, South Africa is the 6th ranked team in T20s, a fact which is unjustifiable considering the amount of talent they possess.The Proteas will be looking to better their rankings, and the 3 T20s played between October 2 and 8 will also serve as a good platform for them to test their skills before the next year’s T20 World Cup, which is going to be held in India, as stated by the skipper Faf du Plessis. They have rested their big guns - Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn for the T20s, letting the fresh blood of Kagiso Rabada and Marchant de Lange to face the sub-continent heat.South Africa will be eager to make amends for the last year’s T20 World Cup semi-final loss when Virat Kohli made a mockery of their deadly bowling attack. But they have great potential to strike back and are certainly a much better team than the rankings suggests. Let’s have a look at the predicted eleven of South Africa for the T20Is.
#1 Hashim Amla
A legend in ODIs and Tests, Hashim Amla is a different person altogether in T20s. An average of 25.46 with only 1 fifty in 28 innings doesn’t do justice to the talent of this opening batsman. He didn’t even get a bid in the last IPL auction due to his lack of power-hitting abilities.
He was replaced by AB de Villiers in the T20 series against Bangladesh in a bid to boost the scoring rate from the start of the innings. However, he came back to the team in the New Zealand series and has also been included in the T20 squad to India.
Amla can provide stability at the top of the order while other batsmen can bat freely around him. Unless South Africa tries again to experiment with De Villiers at the top, we can see Amla opening the innings for the visitors.