T20 WC brand ambassador Yuvraj backs Rohit & Virat in squad
Karthik started the last T20 World Cup in Australia as India’s designated keeper before losing his spot ahead of the team’s semifinal defeat to England.
Propelled by a 39-ball 72 from opener Shikhar Dhawan and some useful contributions from captain Virat Kohli (26) and Manish Pandey (29), India posted a daunting total of 203 for 5 in their allotted 20 overs in the first T20I of the three-match series at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg on Sunday.
Carl Junior Dala was the most successful South African bowler, taking two wickets for 47 runs.
Earlier, South Africa opted to field after winning the toss.
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While the Men-in-blue will look to continue their momentum by winning the 1st T20I, the Proteas, too, will aim to start the tournament with a win.
India have thrashed South Africa by 5-1 in the recently concluded six-match One-day International (ODI) series.
Talking about the match, JP Duminy said his team will get inspiration from the Pink ODI. “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. 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,” said 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. If you do that then I am sure the intensity will be there as well,” said head coach Ravi Shastri.
Teams:
South Africa Squad: Jean-Paul Duminy (c), Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Reeza Hendricks, JJ Smuts, AB de Villiers, David Miller, Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Junior Dala, Dane Paterson, Aaron Phangiso, Farhaan Behardien, Christiaan Jonker, Tabraiz Shamsi
India Squad: Virat Kohli (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Lokesh Rahul, Jaydev Unadkat, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur
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