South Africa have several unfamiliar faces for the three-match Twenty20 International series with India that gets under way at Kingsmead on Sunday, but captain Aiden Markram says they will impose their attacking style ahead of next year’s World Cup.
Having rested a number of leading players, the hosts have named batters Matthew Breetzke and Donovan Ferreira, and seamers Ottniel Baartman, Nandre Burger and Lizaad Williams in their squad for the series.
Beuran Hendricks, who has not played for the team in over two years, was also a late inclusion on Friday after regular Lungi Ngidi pulled out with injury.
“We have played a lot against the new faces (in domestic cricket), but I suppose you’d like to know them better on a deeper level before going into a series with them,” Markram told reporters on Saturday.
“But we have had a few good days together getting to understand what gets them to tick.
“I suppose that is the nature of cricket nowadays, series come thick and fast and there will be stages where new guys come in and they are going to have to find their feet quickly.”
The T20 World Cup will be held in the West Indies and United States from June 4-30 and there are few opportunities for South Africa in the shortest format between now and then, with most of their players involved in domestic T20 leagues in the first half of next year.
“There is a lot of cricket in between but not a lot of cricket for us as a team together,” Markram said. “As long as the guys understand the way that we want to try play as a team and can keep that close to them when playing in different leagues and tournaments.
“Then hopefully by the time we meet up for the World Cup, the guys are used to that brand and how we want to operate as a team.”
After delivering an impressive performance against Australia in the recently concluded T20I series, the Indian squad is training its sights on the upcoming tour of South Africa.
T20 Squads
South Africa: Aiden Markram (c), Ottniel Baartman, Matthew Breetzke, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee (1st and 2ndT20Is), Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen (1st and 2nd T20Is), Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi (1st and 2nd T20Is), Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, and Lizaad Williams
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, and Deepak Chahar.
India tour of South Africa full schedule
T20Is
1st T20I – December 10, 2023 at 9:30 PM, Durban
2nd T20I – December 12, 2023 at 9:30 PM , Gqeberha
3rd T20I – December 14, 2023 at 9:30 PM, Johannesburg
ODIs
1st ODI – December 17, 2023 at 1:30 PM, Johannesburg
2nd ODI – December 19, 2023 at 4:30 PM, Gqeberha
3rd ODI – December 21, 2023 at 4:30 PM, Paarl
Tests
1st Test – December 26-30, 2023 at 1:30 PM, Centurion
2nd Test – January 3-7, 2024 at 2:00 PM, Cape Town