India vs South Africa 1st T20 Highlights: David Miller, Rassie van der Dussen help SA beat IND by seven wickets

If we look at South Africa's bowling, Tabrez Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj will spearhead the South African spin attack. Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje in all likelihood share the new-ball duties.

Avesh Khan will be playing and most probably fill in the third pacer’s spot alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel.

Hardik Pandya had a stellar IPL 2022, which saw him lead Gujarat Titans to the  title in their maiden campaign. 

Pandya will likely to bat down the order despite a brilliant show while batting at No. 3 and 4 in the IPL. 

However, his return at bowling will be a big boost to Team India.

All eyes will also be on Dinesh Karthik, who had a sensational outing in IPL 2022, which saw him make a comeback to the Indian side. If he manages to replicate the form he was in during the IPL, it could possibly cement his spot in the T20 World Cup squad, which will be played in Australia later this year.

Shreyas Iyer was in terrific form batting at number 3 against Sri Lanka in February but the recent performance by Deepak Hooda at the same position in IPL may see him get promoted to position in internationals as well.

India are the joint leaders in winning the most consecutive T20Is, which currently stands at 12. A win against Temba Bavuma's men will extend it to a world record of 13 successive T20I victories.

The onus will also be on Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer as India will field a different set of top three from the ones which we are accustomed with. . 

Kishan was slightly off colour in the latest edition of the Indian Premier League and performed in bits and pieces. He finished the campaign with 418 runs from 14 encounters and will look to start afresh going into the contest.

With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma already skipping the tour and now with KL Rahul's absence, it will pave way for Ruturaj Gaikwad at the top-order and it will be interesting to see if he can replicate his IPL heroics in the international stage. 

Gaikwad was part of Indian team that had travelled to Sri Lanka last year but failed drastically in the tour. In the three T20Is he has played so far the 25-year-old has managed just 39 runs.

If we look at Rishabh Pant, he has been among the most exciting captains in IPL. Delhi Capitals had finished as table toppers in the 2021 edition of the T20 tournament, and this time around the team missed out on the play-offs by whisker. 

If not the best, but he certainly has significant amount of experience to deserve the role. 

“As a captain, it will help me a lot (having led the Delhi Capitals.) When you keep doing the same things over a period of time you tend to improve and keep learning from it and I think that will help me,” Pant said ahead of his first international assignment as skipper.

KL Rahul was supposed to captain the unit when the squad was initially announced. However, a last minute groin injury has ruled him out of all the five T20Is.