South Africa vs India- T20I Series Preview - Betting Tips

Coming to the team news: Left-hander Suresh Raina is likely to make a comeback in the Indian side, while JP Duminy will lead a revamped South African side as almost everyone, except AB de Villiers, has been rested keeping the upcoming Test series against Australia in mind.

Fast forward 11 years and two young wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have literally managed to embarrass the hosts by doing what classic spinners ought to do: provide drift, rip and loop on the ball.

The next pit stop is the Wanderers, where a young team under MS Dhoni lifted the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. India's tryst with T20s - and Dhoni- began here. Cricket Betting Tips Free  After the conclusion of that tournament, India found an invaluable leader and BCCI found a priceless format.

On Jan 17 in Centurion, after losing the Test series, the Indian skipper seemed jaded at the post-match presser. But, the Men in Blue have turned the tide in the past three weeks, effortlessly outclassing the proteas 5-1 in the shorter format.

13:15 Local Time, 11:15 GMT, 16:45 IST: The Indian team has traveled more than 6,000 kilometers in South Africa on this seemingly never-ending tour. But forget about the overdose of traveling and overdose of cricket; the side won't be feeling an iota of fatigue. Cricket Betting Tips  In fact, the 45 minutes journey between Centurion to Johannesburg would have been one of the most pleasing itineraries for skipper Virat Kohli and his team.
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Preview

India have finally entered the final bend of their long endless tour. Usually that's cue for home-sickness, counting down the days and a general bit of going through the motions. But there was a surprise spring in the players' steps on a Saturday morning that had little to do with the miracle powers of coffee and more with their recent turnaround in on-field fortunes. Cricket Match Betting Tips  Virat Kohli's calls to "embrace the South African challenges" hadn't fallen on deaf ears and the tourists could thus bounce back from a gruelling Test series win to take the ODI leg by an emphatic 5-1 scoreline. 

And so the teams move on to a little bout of T20 jostling, so that the game's stakeholders earn the dividends from the sport even if it lends itself into a more relentless schedule for the teams. Cricket Tips Free  The three-match 20-overs-a-side bonanza will begin at the Wanderers and go to Centurion again before culminating where it all started, in Cape Town. All in a space of six days. 

Yet this leg brings a palpable sense of relief. Both teams have little to nothing riding on the eventual outcome and could thus afford to test their wingspan a bit. Cbtf Cricket The hosts have Australia around the corner and have rightfully rested their big boys while India have offered an entry to one of their old-timers to push for a comeback.

The spotlight will hover on Raina for a reason. After playing the consummate team-man to perfection for several years, the Uttar Pradesh batsman endured a rapid decline in form and fitness post the home ODIs against South Africa in 2015. Having voiced his intention to contend for a place in next year's World Cup squad, Raina will hope to make most of his chances here. Free Cricket Tips  Not only does he add variety to a right-heavy line-up, he can bowl, field and ideally replace Kedar Jadhav's No.5 slot in the ODIs, should the Maharashtra man slip up. 

Meanwhile, Duminy, a player with very similar attributes to Raina, faces an uncertain future himself in the ODI setup if South Africa continue to put their weight behind Aiden Markram when the others return. Cricket Session Betting Tips There'll be more than just brownie points up for grabs if he can demonstrate strong leadership qualities in a youthful-looking South African squad.

When: South Africa vs India, 1st T20I, February 18, 14:30 Local, 18:00 IST

Where: The Wanderers, Johannesburg

What to expect: The iconic Wanderers has taken a little knock during this India series. After the pitch fiasco during the Tests, the ODI game nearly ran the trouble of a full washout because of an outfield that took long to dry after a thunderstorm. There is a forecast for rain late on Sunday evening, but the game's afternoon start will help avoid that threat. Ipl Betting Tips  The pitch for the ODI had pace, bounce and assisted strokeplay, a characteristic it should retain for the T20.

Team News

India: 

KL Rahul has flown all the way back after flying out at the end of the Tests but any attempts towards batting redemption will have to come at the cost of a rest for one of Rohit or Dhawan at the top. The likes of Manish Pandey and Dinesh Karthik have not got game time in the series so far and could vie for one batting slot if Raina is slotted straight into the XI. Cbtf There is much speculation about MS Dhoni's effectiveness in the shortest format and given his struggles to get out of the blocks running in the ODIs, the team management will want to assess his future in this format more closely given they still have some time to build for the next World T20. Jaydev Unadkat, one of the stars of the most recent IPL and IPL auction, could offer rest to one of Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Jasprit Bumrah. 

Squad: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni(wk), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Lokesh Rahul, Jaydev Unadkat, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur 

South Africa 

By his lofty standards, AB de Villiers had a quiet series after returning from a finger injury. Jsk Tips A little more freedom could liberate him in this format. Then there's Farhan Behardien, who many believed was unlucky to not get more than a solitary game in the ODIs, who will have a point to prove. 

Squad: Reeza Hendricks, JJ Smuts, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy(c), David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen(wk), Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Junior Dala, Dane Paterson, Aaron Phangiso, Farhaan Behardien, Christiaan Jonker, Tabraiz Shamsi

Did you know?

- The last four T20Is at the Wanderers have been won by the team batting second. Targets of 232, 205 and 172 have been chased down.

- Virat Kohli needs 44 runs to become the third player to score 2000 runs in T20Is after Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill.

- Suresh Raina scored 314 runs from nine innings at 39.25 and a strike rate of 146 with a hundred and two fifties in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

What they said:

"If I look at the pink day and shortened game, the platform was set for almost T20 style of play and I think that type of mindset brought out the best in us. Match Winner Tips  So I am quite excited to see how we go about it in terms of this format now and irrespective of who we come up against." - JP Duminy

"Every day is a new game and it’s a different format, you respect that format, go in with the same ideology you went into the ODIs and work ethics will remain the same. Cricket Betting Tips If you do that then I am sure the intensity will be there as well." 

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