South Africa's top 5 wicket-takers in T20Is vs India ft. Lungi Ngidi

India's tour of South Africa kicks off with a three-match T20I series starting tomorrow. The matches will be played on December 10 (Durban), December 12 (Gqebehra), and December 14 (Johannesburg).

The Men in Blue have played South Africa 24 times in the shortest format of the game. While India have won 13 of these matches, the series hosts have won 10.

Suryakumar Yadav, who led the side for the first time ever in the five-match T20I series against Australia, will continue as captain for the T20Is. Following the T20I series, India will also play three ODI matches as well as a couple of Test matches against the Proteas.

Despite Kagiso Rabada being rested, Lungi Ngidi missing out due to an ankle sprain, and Anrich Nortje being ruled out due to a stress fracture of the back, the Proteas still have a strong bowling contingent. Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, and Tabraiz Shamsi are four quality bowlers in their armory.

On that note, let's take a look at South Africa's top 5 wicket-takers in T20Is against India:

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#5 Kagiso Rabada - 8

Kagiso Rabada is one of the best pace bowlers of his generation. A splendid bowler in all three formats, Rabada has picked up eight wickets in 12 matches against India in the shortest format of the game.

His bowling average of 40.25 and strike rate of 33 against the Men in Blue in T20Is don't make for good reading. However, he is a match-winner and will be missed dearly in the white-ball matches of the series.

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#4 Keshav Maharaj - 8

Keshav Maharaj, the number 1 ranked ODI bowler in the world, has also scalped eight wickets against the 2007 T20I World Cup winners in T20 cricket. However, he has been more efficient than Rabada, having played three fewer games.

One of the first names on the team sheet, Maharaj is the current vice captain of his national side in limited-overs cricket. Being a left-arm orthodox spinner, his battles against the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer, two good players of spin, will be interesting.

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#3 Dwayne Pretorius - 8

Dwayne Pretorius has dismissed eight Indian batters in seven innings. A T20 specialist, Pretorius announced his retirement from international cricket earlier this year. However, he still continues to play in various franchise leagues around the world.

Pretorius was released by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ahead of the upcoming IPL 2024 auction. Having set his base price at ₹1 crore, the fast-bowling all-rounder is expected to attract bids from a few franchises.

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#2 Wayne Parnell - 9

Wayne Parnell is another South African fast bowler who has set his base price at ₹1 crore for the IPL 2024 mini-auction. One of his nation's earliest T20 stars, Parnell has picked up nine wickets in 11 encounters against India in the format.

The left-arm pacer is the fifth-most prolific bowler for South Africa in T20I cricket, with 59 wickets. Parnell isn't a first-choice bowler for them in international cricket anymore, but he continues plying his trade in franchise T20 leagues.

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#1 Lungi Ngidi - 10

Lungi Ngidi has by far the best record of any South African bowler against India in T20Is. The Durban-born bowler has picked up 10 wickets in just five matches against the Men in Blue. His average of 15.50 and strike rate of 9.3 are truly splendid.

The 27-year-old's most notable performance against the Suryakumar Yadav-led side came last year in the T20 World Cup. Ngidi picked up four scalps for the concession of 29 runs, including the wickets of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Hardik Pandya.