India vs South Africa: Will Men in Blue record first win against the Proteas in T20Is at home?
The last time India played South Africa in a T20I bilateral series at home was in 2015 where the visitors won 2-0 (3 match series, 1 match abandoned).
Team India is set to take on South Africa in the first T20I of the three match series at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala. It will be a revamped South African side that will face Team India as they look to leave their disastrous 2019 World Cup campaign behind. Virat Kohli and Co will be vary of the threat provided by the wounded Proteas and will hope to continue their impressive form in world cricket at home.
Quinton de Kock will the man to lead the Proteas in their first outing in cricket since the World cup as he replaces Faf du Plessis as the captain of the T20I team. Meanwhile India have named an identical team from the West Indies tour to face South Africa at home.
READ | Hardik Pandya reveals changes made to improve fitness, speaks about expectations
But there is a cause of concern for the Men in Blue as they have an unimpressive record at home against the Proteas. India have never defeated South Africa in a T20 international at home. Infact, South Africa is the only team against whom India is yet to win a T20I match at home.
The last time India played South Africa in a T20I bilateral series at home was in 2015 where the visitors won 2-0 (3 match series, 1 match abandoned). In India, South Africa have an impressive win percentage of 66.67% after winning 4 matches out 6.
However, if we look at the overall record in T20Is then India has the advantage over the Proteas as they have 8 wins in 13 matches against them. Among all the oppositions in the world, South Africa have the least win percentage (38.46%) against India in the shortest format of the game.
The form guide in T20Is also favours the visitors as they have won 3 matches out of 5 with one getting tied against Sri Lanka. India won all their T20s against West Indies while they lost 2 when they faced the Aussies earlier this year.
In the last 5 encounters between the teams, both South Africa and India have two victories each with one match in Kolkata getting abandoned.
