The Indian cricket team are yet to register their first victory against South Africa in T20 internationals at home. When they take on the Proteas at Dharamsala on September 15 the Men in Blue will look forward to correcting this anomaly in their records.
The Indian cricket team will play three T20 internationals against the South African side led by newly appointed captain Quinton de Kock. After completing a dominating whitewash in the Caribbean, the Men in Blue will look forward to do the same against the Proteas.
Both teams have played 14 matches against each other and India has won eight of those whereas South Africa has won 5 and one match was abandoned. Even though India are ahead of the Proteas in the head-to-head count but the results are not good for the Men in Blue in their own backyard.
India has played two matches and lost both against the South Africans. This happened in the 2015 series where the third match was abandoned due to rain.
The South Africans have been in good form in T20 internationals this year whereas India's form has been inconsistent though they won their last series against West Indies 3-0.
Another thing which may go against the Men in Blue is that the pitch at Dharamsala is always known for favouring pacers and the Proteas have Kagiso Rabada and Junior Dala in their ranks.
They will have some advantage over Virat Kohli's men who rested their pace bowling trio for the series and retained almost the same squad from the West Indies series.
According to reports, due to the rainy weather conditions in Dharamsala, the groundsmen will be unable to keep the pitch under sunlight for a day which will add on to the benefit of the pacers.
But the Indian bowlers in the T20 series against West Indies were in good form with Navdeep Saini leading from the from. Moreover, the Indian team are riding high on confidence after a brutal display in the Caribbean tour.
In the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, the Men in Blue were enjoying a good time till the group stage before their middle-order faltered in the semi-final. On the other hand, the South African team had a forgettable time in the quadrennial tournament.
The Men in Blue are definitely the favourites. With in-form skipper Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in their ranks, it will not be that difficult to tackle the pace bowling attack of the Proteas in India.
