India (IND) will face South Africa (SA) in the 1st T20I of the series at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Tuesday, December 9. This match is a repeat of the T20 World Cup 2024 final, adding extra excitement to the contest. The all-format tour is in its final stage—South Africa won the Test series, while India claimed the ODI series.

India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, are in excellent form. They recently won the Asia Cup 2025 and also defeated Australia in their own backyard. With the 2026 T20 World Cup not far away, India will aim at carrying on their momentum and make a winning start to the T20I series in Cuttack.

South Africa, however, have been struggling in T20Is lately. They lost their recent series 1–2 against Pakistan and even suffered a shock defeat to Namibia in a one-off match. They also drew a series against England. The Proteas will be desperate to find some rhythm and bounce back in this important series.

IND vs SA: Head-to-Head Record in T20Is

• Matches Played: 31
  
• India Won: 18
  
• South Africa Won: 12
  
• Tied / No Result: 1

IND vs SA: Pitch Report

The Barabati Stadium has hosted three T20Is so far, and South Africa have won both matches they played here. Teams chasing have won two out of three games here, and bowling first could be a smart choice. The pitch does offer help to both pacers and spinners, but bowlers with good variations usually do the work. A score around 160 can be competitive on this ground because dew may not allow the ball to grip much.

See Also: IND vs SA 1st T20I: Suryakumar Yadav confirms Gill and Abhishek as openers, Samson’s role uncertain

IND vs SA: Predicted Playing XIs

India (IND):

Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah

South Africa (SA):

Aiden Markram (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi