India will face off against South Africa in the ICC World T20 2016 warm-up match at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Saturday. South Africa have been in good form in Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) over the last few months, but were recently outdone by Australia at home. Interestingly, South Africa had beaten India in India, and India then beat Australia in Australia, before Australia beat South Africa in South Africa. As a result of this stone-paper-scissors scenario it is tough to decide which of the three teams hold an advantage over the others. In any case, India and South Africa will get some practice against each other at Wankhede. Full cricket scorecard: India vs South Africa, ICC World T20 2016, warm-up match at Mumbai
South Africa will take a lot of heart from their success in the limited-overs leg of their tour to India last year, but India know that the tour ended with the hosts crushing the visitors 3-0 in the Tests. India are currently the team in form, and have lost just one T20 match this year. They absolutely smashed past West Indies in the first warm-up match, and will look to keep that momentum intact moving forward. READ: ICC World T20 2016: Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Aamer, Jasprit Bumrah and other bowlers to watch out for
Rohit Sharma scored a scintillating 98 not out against West Indies at Eden Gardens, while Yuvraj Singh played another crucial cameo. Pawan Negi and Ravindra Jadeja took 2 cheap wickets, while Jasprit Bumrah was at his economical best. Most importantly, Mohammed Shami took 2 for 30 as well in what was a comeback match for him. India would be thrilled with the result of their first warm-up match and will want to continue in similar vein. READ: ICC World T20 2016: Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and other batsmen to watch out for
Meanwhile, South Africa will want to put their loss over Australia behind them and get back their winning momentum. Faf du Plessis has been in good form, but AB de Villiers has had a few dry innings. Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla have been outstanding, and will get immense confidence if they can smash the Indian bowling around. READ: ICC T20 World Cup 2016: Cricketers who may retire after World T20
The South African bowling has not been up to scratch though; Imran Tahir had an indifferent series against Australia while Aaron Phangiso hardly played at all. David Wiese, Chris Morris, Dale Steyn, Kyle Abbott, and Kagiso Rabada have been impressive by and large, but their combined bowling was not enough to win them the series. READ: India all set to conquer ICC T20 World Cup 2016 for record second time
India are the favourites going into the match, but not by much. South Africa have an excellent team full of players who can single-handedly turn the match around. If the Proteas can overcome their problems against spin they will fare a much better chance to stunning the all-conquering hosts. India will want a repeat of their performance against West Indies, with their other batsmen batsmen getting a chance this time. It should be a close contest at Wankhede.
Squads:
India: MS Dhoni (c & wk), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Harbhajan Singh, Pawan Negi.
South Africa: Faf du Plessis (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Imran Tahir, Chris Morris, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn, Aaron Phangiso, David Wiese.
Time: 19:30 IST | 13:00 GMT
(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is an animal lover and comic, film and TV geek. A fast bowler at heart, he enjoys watching a good, low-scoring game of cricket. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)
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