Test of strength in depth as Proteas face India
South Africa and India will both be testing their strength in depth when they meet in two white-ball series, starting with a Twenty20 international at Kingsmead in Durban on Sunday.
Three T20 matches will be followed by three one-day internationals during a tour which is a financial lifesaver for Cricket South Africa (CSA).
The cash-strapped hosts stand to earn in excess of a billion rand, mainly from TV rights, which is far in excess of income from any other incoming tours.
"It will obviously help us balance the books but it is not just us, every country needs India, purely based on the broadcast revenues," said Pholetsi Moseki, chief executive of CSA.
Both teams will be without key players for the white-ball games, ahead of two World Test Championship matches later in the tour.
South Africa's one-day and Test captain Temba Bavuma and fast bowler Kagiso Rabada will miss all the limited overs matches.
Fast bowlers Gerald Coetzee, Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi will play only in the first two T20 internationals before returning to their franchises to play in domestic four-day cricket ahead of the Tests.
Regular Indian captain Rohit Sharma and former captain Virat Kohli will also miss the limited overs games, while recent T20 captain Hardik Pandya is injured.
Suryakumar Yadav, fresh from leading India to a 4-1 T20 home series win against Australia, will captain the T20 side while KL Rahul will be in charge for the one-day matches.
- 'Opportunities' -
With the T20 World Cup due to be played in the West Indies and United States in June, the three-match T20 series provides an opportunity for fringe players to press their claims.
South African white-ball coach Rob Walter said he wanted to continue to build a core group of players to capitalise on the momentum achieved during the recent Cricket World Cup, where South Africa reached the semi-finals.
"The move (to rest some players) has presented opportunities for others who have been performing well on domestic level," said Walter.
India were outstanding in the 50-overs World Cup before losing to Australia in the final.
But their T20 side is less settled, although World Cup stars Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj return to the format after being rested from the series against Australia.
T20 squads
South Africa: Aiden Markram (capt), Ottniel Baartman, Matthew Breetzke, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen (wkt), David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Lizaad Williams
India: Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-capt), Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan (wkt), Mukesh Kumar, Jitesh Sharma (wkt), Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Tilak Varma, Kuldeep Yadav
Limited overs fixtures
Dec 10, 1st T20I, Durban
Dec 12, 2nd T20I, Gqeberha
Dec 14, 3rd T20I, Johannesburg
Dec 17, 1st ODI, Johannesburg
Dec 19, 2nd ODI, Gqeberha
Dec 21, 3rd ODI, Paarl
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