India travels to Proteas’ country for a three-T20I series with an excess of T20 talent and nowhere to put it, sixteen years after MS Dhoni guided a youthful squad of relative unknowns to the maiden T20 World Cup championship in South Africa.
The bowling lineup is almost sorted because format mixing is not a problem. India would be OK even if they used the identical offensive that was used in the World Cup. But batting is an entirely other animal. You cannot afford to choose the incorrect ratio between form, T20 specialization, and experience in it.
Before the series kicks off on Sunday, let’s pinpoint the top five batters who’ve shown the best performance against South Africa in the format.
5. Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik, the wicketkeeper and batsman, participated in both the December 2006 and October 2022 India-South Africa T20Is. Over the years, his function has essentially been the same: bat in the middle and bottom order and close games.
He scored 221 runs at 31.57 and struck at 144.44 in 13 games (tied for second highest) against South Africa. In 2022, India played nine T20Is against the Proteas, the year Karthik returned to the T20I team following strong performances in the IPL, and the ‘keeper batter performed admirably in the most of them.
His greatest effort was a 27-ball 55 in Rajkot, where India scored 169/6 and bowled the opposition out for 87. Karthik was pulled from the team for his poor performance in the 2022 T20 World Cup.
4. Shikhar Dhawan
In his rather lackluster T20I career, left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan played seven matches against South Africa for India. He amassed 233 runs with a strike rate of 141.21 and an average of 33.28 in these. This comprised two excellent 40s but just one half-century.
His greatest knock against the Proteas came in the first match of a bilateral series in Johannesburg in 2018. He top-scored with a 39-ball 72 in India’s remarkable first innings total of 203/5, one of his fastest 50+ centuries in international cricket.
Dhawan played his final T20I in 2021, however he remained in contention for the T20I selection due to his continuous IPL performances. He was later replaced by Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Ruturaj Gaikwad, three younger and more courageous players.
3. Virat Kohli
In the 2014 T20 World Cup semi-final at Mirpur, when Dhoni let him to score the winning runs in exchange for his match-winning 72 off 44 balls, Virat Kohli’s T20I career against South Africa is mostly recognized for one innings.
That was his most impressive inning against this opponent. He has 318 runs against them, with a strike rate of 134.17 and an average of 35.33. His only previous half-century against them was an unbeaten 72 in 2016 against Mohali.
Virat Kohli has taken a break from the forthcoming T20Is, but his comeback to the squad is still uncertain. He’s one of the finest batters in the format that India has ever produced, although, like with Dhawan, other younger players have performed better in the IPL and for India recently.
Kohli was complimented after his semi-final 72 against South Africa for not seeking for a boundary in the first quarter of his innings, instead focusing on singles and doubles to escape dot ball pressure before bursting. He still brings the same qualities to the table. It is up to the selectors to decide if it is still required in 2024.
2. Suresh Raina
Indian T20 champ, Suresh Raina, has a sound record against South Africa in his 66-game T20I career. He played 12 games against them and scored 339 runs. His average runs scored per match was 33.90 and his strike rate stood at a remarkable 148.03.
Raina’s century was India’s first-ever T20I century in South Africa in 2010. On a challenging pitch surrounded by large boundaries, he began slowly, survived a catch off a no-ball and a few of close run-out attempts, and finished with a magnificent 60-ball 101. At the time, it was only the third T20I century.
After that, he didn’t get above 50 against South Africa, but he played a few excellent 30s and 40s until 2018, when he played his final international match later that year.
1. Rohit Sharma
In Twenty20 Internationals versus South Africa, Rohit Sharma is without a doubt India’s top run scorer. With an average of 28 and a strike rate of 129.23, he has amassed 420 runs in 17 outings (the highest for the nation), including two hundreds and a century.
His initial game against South Africa was in the 2007 T20 World Cup. It was his second international match in this format. He made an impressive 50 off 40 balls. He batted fifth in the lineup. This boosted India to a 37 run victory.
In 2015, Rohit produced a magnificent 66-ball 106 against the Proteas in Dharamshala, the Men in Blue’s second T20I century following Raina. Despite scoring three more T20I tons for India, Rohit’s performances against South Africa deteriorated, as he reached 25 only once in the following ten innings.
He, like Kohli, chose to rest for the next series, although his place in the 2024 T20 World Cup remains in doubt owing to his recent T20I record.