IND vs SA 2022: 3 player battles to watch out for in the first T20I

Both India and South Africa have almost their entire T20 World Cup squads featuring in the three-match series beginning on Wednesday, September 28. The two sides have already played five T20Is earlier this year, with both winning two each as the series decider couldn't provide a result due to rain.

With just over a couple of weeks to go before the T20 World Cup, the upcoming series between the two teams promises to be an absolute humdinger. With world-class players on both sides, it is natural that a match-up game could certainly play a massive role in deciding the outcome of the series.

With the first T20I set to be played at the Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, let's take a look at three player battles that are likely to keep the fans on the edge of their seats:

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#3 Rohit Sharma vs Wayne Parnell

Indian captain Rohit Sharma has already shown ominous form against Australia with a match-winning 46* off just 20 balls in the second T20I. However, there have been too many instances of late where Rohit's bid to play ultra-attacking cricket has cost him dearly.

The 35-year-old's weakness early on against the left-arm pacers has been well documented too, having been dismissed a staggering 19 times in 61 innings. The visitors will thus be keen to play Wayne Parnell and will back him to swing the ball into Rohit Sharma's pads.

Early on, Rohit finds it difficult to get to the pitch of the ball with his front foot and tends to get stuck at the crease. This makes him a prime LBW/bowled candidate and so the Proteas will need to dismiss him before he gets set.

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#2 Yuzvendra Chahal vs Quinton de Kock

There has been a lot of debate about South African captain Temba Bavuma's role in his team as he isn't known to give an explosive start. This is where Quinton de Kock's role becomes even more crucial as an opener.

The southpaw can be an absolute menace when he gets into his groove and can destroy bowling attacks within a span of a few overs. So India might be tempted to bowl leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for at least one over in the powerplay.

The leggie has enjoyed unprecedented success against the South African opener, having dismissed him six times in the IPL. Chahal has also got the better of de Kock twice in ODIs.

So it will be interesting to see if the Indian leg-spinner continues to dominate De Kock, or whether the opener has a counter-attack up his sleeve.

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#1 Suryakumar Yadav vs Keshav Maharaj

Arguably India's best T20I batter on current form, Suryakumar Yadav played an absolutely magnificent innings against Australia in the series-decider at Hyderabad. The 32-year-old scoed 69 runs off just 36 balls and helped India claim their ninth successive series win under Rohit Sharma's captaincy.

While 'SKY' has simply been phenomenal ever since his T20I debut, the left-arm spinners have troubled him a bit in the past. This is because they probably don't offer him as much width as needed and then he has to try and manufacture shots, something that leads to his dismissals.

He averages just 29 against left-arm spinners in T20s, at a pretty poor strike rate of 107.71 and has been dismissed as many as 13 times in 62 innings. South Africa will want Keshav Maharaj to play that role and dismiss SKY early, so that he doesn't get off to a start and post a big score.