Tuesday sees South Africa continue its 2025 tour of India with a T20 in Cuttack. This is the first of five T20s, with the rest all played in different cities, including Lucknow and Ahmedabad.
The tour ends with five T20s across venues across India. Those white-ball matches will be key, as they serve as preparation for both teams ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup, which will be played on many of the same pitches in February.
Here is a look ahead at the contest.
India VS South Africa 1st T20 Venue: Barabari Stadium, Cuttack
India VS South Africa 1st T20 Date: Tuesday, December 9
India VS South Africa 1st T20 Odds:
History
This tour has seen mixed success for the Proteas.
The Test squad swept India 2-0 with victories in Kolkata by 30 runs and a 408-run thrashing in Guwahati. The pounding set a new record Test defeat for India by number of runs, with Player of the Match Marco Jansen and spin sensation Simon Harmer skittling the hosts for 201 in their first innings and 140 in the second.
The white-ball squad looked to follow the lead of the reigning World Test Series Champions, but they fell to a 2-1 series defeat in the ODIs.
India and South Africa split the first two matches, leaving the third game in Visakhapatnam as the decider. South Africa’s opening knock of 270 looked like a fragile lead, and so that proved thanks to inspired batting performances from Rohit Sharma (75) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (unbeaten on 116).
With each team winning one format, the T20s will now decide the overall winner from this marathon tour.
India
On form, this should be a win for India. They have a 26-4 record in T20s since their 2024 T20 World Cup final loss to South Africa and will be one of the heavy favorites to defend their crown on home soil in February.
Hardik Pandya is back and at full strength after missing out on the tour of Australia with a quad issue. He is one of the more pivotal members of this Indian team, giving them six bowling options with the bonus of creating a lethal batting lineup all the way through their No. 8.
India has lost just two of 28 matches since the start of 2024 with Pandya in the side.
South Africa
South Africa has gone in the other direction since losing that nail-biter at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. The Proteas have a win percentage well under 50%, having won nine and lost 16 of their matches since that demoralizing defeat.
Don’t overlook the way that Dewald Brevis has handled spin when trying to find an angle on this match. He has been the best batter in the world against spin since his debut in 2023, with a strike rate of 225.00 against bowlers using this technique.
India’s lineup will have at least three spinners, so will Brevis continue to cook?
Best Bets
This is a hit to nothing for South Africa. There are no expectations on the Proteas here, as they are a team still in flux, facing a full-strength India at home. Sometimes, the best performances come out when the pressure is off.
Forget the Proteas’ record in recent T20s. This is the first time since the 2024 final that South Africa has had a side this close to full strength. They will steal at least one from India, while internally, they will think they can win this series.
Brevis at 10/1 is worth a small punt as the best batsman, given his form against spin.
