IND vs SA 2022: What happened the last time India played a T20I in Thiruvananthapuram 

The first of the three upcoming T20Is between India and South Africa is set to take place at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday (September 28). Following their 2-1 win in the recently concluded series against Australia, India will aim to carry their momentum into this series against the Proteas as well.

The white-ball series will be the last T20I assignment for both sides before the ICC T20 World Cup, which is to be held in Australia next month.

It is expected to be highly competitive as both India and South Africa boast some of the world's most talented players on their rosters.

With an in-form captain and a strong middle-order that goes berserk right from the get-go, the home team will head into the upcoming bilateral series and World Cup as a formidable batting unit. Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been rested for the series.

The Proteas will go into their first game brimming with confidence after drawing the previous T20I series 2-2 in India earlier this year in June.

So far, India have played just a couple of T20I matches at the Greenfield International Stadium, winning one while losing the other.

Situated in Kerala, the pitch in Thiruvananthapuram could give us another run-fest as the curator might be asked to prepare a surface with extra bounce and pace, similar to what we saw in the recent T20I series against Australia.

However, as we have witnessed in other games at the Greenfield Stadium, bowlers might have their say, particularly in the initial overs.

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India lost their last game in Thiruvananthapuram against West Indies in 2019

West Indies beat India by eight wickets in Thiruvananthapuram in 2019. [Pic Credit: BCCI,]

In 2019, India won the three-match T20I series against West Indies at home 2-1, losing the second game in Thiruvananthapuram. After losing the opening fixture, the Caribbean unit gave a solid response and put India on the backfoot that night.

Put in to bat first, India made a steady start courtesy of Shivam Dube, who was promoted at No.3 as a pinch-hitter. The lefthander top-scored for India with a quickfire 30-ball 54. However, apart from Dube, no other Indian batter could really get going as the hosts posted a modest score of 170/7 in their 20 overs.

In reply, the West Indian batters proved too much to handle for the Indian bowlers as they chased down the target in the penultimate over itself. Lendl Simmons, the architect for his side's triumph alongside Evin Lewis, put up a great 73-run opening stand before the left-hander lost his wicket to Washington Sundar in the 10th over.

However, Simmons, who clobbered four boundaries and as many sixes, continued to hammer the Indian bowlers and keep his wicket intact at one end. Simmon's 67* off 45 coupled with cameos from Shimron Hetymer (23 off 14) and Nicolas Pooran (38* off 18) led the West Indies side to an easy eight-wicket win in Kerala.