IND vs SA Preview: While Indian cricket is going through a phase of change, second-order star players like Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma will try to strengthen their place in the national team by shining in the four-match T20 International series against South Africa starting here on Friday. Samson recently got a chance to open the innings in the home T20 series against Bangladesh and he proved the team management's decision right by scoring 111 runs in 47 balls.

Rohit Sharma has retired from T20 international cricket and in such a situation, Samson will try to cement his place in the Indian top order in this format by playing some good innings against South Africa. This series is also very important for Abhishek Sharma as he has struggled to score runs after scoring an attractive century against Zimbabwe in Harare in July. He will have to bring consistency in his performance to cement his place. He would also like to perform better as a left-arm spin bowler.

Tilak Verma would like to make a place in the playing eleven.

Tilak Verma is in a similar situation. This left-handed batsman made an impact with his performance while making his T20 International debut against West Indies in August 2023, but after that, he could not perform as expected. He has only one half-century to his name in the 12 T20 Internationals he has played so far. He played his last match against Afghanistan in January this year. This Hyderabad player will also be desperate to perform well. He would also like to make better use of his off-spin.

Special focus on Varun Chakraborty

This will also be a good opportunity for wicketkeeper-batsman Jitesh Sharma and spinner Varun Chakraborty. Chakraborty impressed by taking five wickets against Bangladesh. The selectors will also keep a close eye on how fast bowlers Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Vishak Vijaykumar, and Yash Dayal perform against South Africa.

The bowling lineup is led by Arshdeep.

Arshdeep and Avesh have experience of playing international cricket while Vishak and Dayal have made it to the Indian team on the basis of their good performance in domestic cricket and IPL. Another player is Ramandeep Singh who performed well in IPL and that is why Kolkata Knight Riders retained him. Ramandeep seems to be a complete cricketer. He is an aggressive lower-order batsman, a medium-pace bowler, and an excellent fielder.

Senior players of the team like captain Suryakumar Yadav, all-rounder Hardik Pandya, and Akshar Patel will also try to make the series against South Africa memorable. As far as South Africa is concerned, its team will be desperate to avenge its defeat to India in the final of the T20 World Cup in June.

The teams are as follows:

India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vishak. Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal.

South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Ottneil Bartman, Gerald Coetzee, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Patrick Kruger, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Mihlali Mpongwana, Nkaba Peter, Ryan Rickelton, Andile Simelane, Lutho Sipam (3rd and 4th matches), and Tristan Stubbs.

The match will start at 8.30 pm Indian time.