3 most thrilling India vs. South Africa T20Is of all time

India host South Africa for a five-match T20I series this month. The series will feature new faces such as Umran Malik and Deepak Hooda, who will be hoping to make a good impression. It will also see the return of Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya to the national side.

With senior pros like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli rested ahead of the series and stand-in skipper KL Rahul ruled out due to an injury, it's a good opportunity for Rishabh Pant to lead the national side.

The two teams have been a part of many exciting contests. The Men in Blue have faced the Proteas in 15 T20Is so far and have emerged victorious on nine occasions.

With that in mind, here are the three most thrilling T20Is between the two sides.

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#3. 2007 T20 World Cup

South Africa were the hosts of the inaugural T20 World Cup back in 2007. In the absence of seniors like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, a young team under MS Dhoni took on a dangerous-looking South Africa side in Durban.

India had nearly half their team back in the pavilion by the tenth over, with only 61 runs on board. However, thanks to valiant efforts from a young Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni, the Men in Blue went on to set a respectable target of 154 in 20 overs.

In response, the South African batters didn't get the start they would have liked and succumbed to India's bowling led by RP Singh. Mark Boucher and Albie Morkel chipped in with some runs but it was too little too late.

The Men in Blue went on to register a 39 run-win over the opposition to storm into the semi-finals in style. Interestingly, it remains their biggest win against South Africa in T20Is till date.

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#2. One-off T20I in 2012

The Proteas under Johan Botha squared off against the Men in Blue for a one-off T20I in 2012. Batting first, South Africa put on a mammoth total of 219/4, riding on Jacques Kallis and Colin Ingram's knocks of 61 and 78, respectively.

Chasing a target of well over 200 is always a challenge in T20s but India refused to let the total overwhelm them. Thanks to an explosive start from openers Gautam Gambhir (49) and Robin Uthappa (18), the Men in Blue put on 71 runs in 7.5 overs when it started raining.

Unfortunately, the match was called off and South Africa were awarded the win by 11 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method.

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#1. India vs. South Africa: 2012 T20 World Cup

In yet another thriller from 2012, the Men in Blue faced the Proteas for a must-win game in Colombo. Due to a massive loss to Australia in their opening match in the competition, India needed a big win against South Africa to qualify for the knockouts.

Contrary to expectations, the Men in Blue put on an average total of 152/6 largely due to Suresh Raina's knock of 45 runs off 34 balls. With a relatively low total to defend, the bowlers had to pull off something magical to succeed.

They started on a positive note, removing Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis before the end of the fourth over. AB de Villiers followed suit in the seventh over with South Africa's score reading 46/3.

Meanwhile, Faf du Plessis launched a counter-attack even as wickets kept falling at the other end. When he finally departed after scoring 65 runs off 38 balls, the Proteas needed 58 runs to win off 44 balls.

Fortunately for the Men in Blue, Lakshmipathy Balaji dismissed the Morkel brothers in the last over to defend the target by just one run. Although India failed to qualify for the knockouts, it remains one of the most exciting T20I matches ever.