Durban, South Africa

The first of the three T20Is between India and South Africa got called off without the toss due to bad weather. The jam-packed crowd at Kingsmead in Durban returned home disappointed as the marquee clash saw no contest. This means that India, which had just six T20Is in the lead-up to next year’s World Cup, will now have a game less to determine their best combination going ahead.

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Non-stop rains in Durban caused an upset as fans were forced to leave without watching a ball being bowled. Although the toss got delayed due to a wet outfield initially, the rain came afterwards to wash away any chance of a game to get underway between these two giants.

While India entered this contest on the back of a five-match T20I series at home against Australia, which they convincingly won 4-1, it was South Africa’s first international game since losing the World Cup semis clash against the Aussies at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

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Both teams picked relatively younger squads for the three-match T20I series, with the top-batter in this format – Suryakumar Yadav, named India captain. Popularly known as SKY among fans, Surya led India to victory over Australia. On the other side, Aiden Markram was the captain.

Rain hurt India’s chances

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Considering the packed 2024 FTP, India is slated to play only six T20Is (three against SA and as many against Afghanistan at home next year), and with this game getting washed out, the captain and the selectors have one game less at hand to figure out their best players for a particular position in this format.

With several youngsters tipped to fill in spots for the first T20I in Durban, they have to wait two more days before both teams face off in the second game on Tuesday (Dec 12) in Gqeberha.