India will take on South Africa in the fifth of the five-match T20I series. This article provides details about India’s Playing 11 vs South Africa for the fifth match of the series.
India Playing XI vs South Africa- 5th T20I, South Africa Tour of India 2025:
Openers: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill
India would want to earn back-to-back wins in the ongoing five-match T20I series against South Africa in order to clinch another series in this format.
The Men in Blue have got all their bases covered in the batting and bowling departments, but would be concerned over the fitness of India’s vice captain, Shubman Gill.
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Gill was ruled out of the fourth T20I, which was eventually abandoned due to excessive fog, and would look to recover in time for the series decider in Ahmedabad.
However, it will be a race against time for the opening batter as there is only a day’s gap between the fourth and fifth T20I.
If Shubman is not able to recover in time for the next game, Sanju Samson, in all likeliness will open the batting with Abhishek Sharma.
Sanju would aim to make the most of the opportunity by playing a match-winning knock for his team and giving good support to Abhishek Sharma, who also found his mojo back in Dharamsala after struggling to get going in the first two matches.
Middle-order batsmen and all-rounders: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk)
The opening pair will be followed by captain Suryakumar Yadav, who is desperately in need of runs, Tilak Varma, who played a decent knock in Dharamsala, and Hardik Pandya, who has also made decisive contributions in the series.
The above-mentioned batters will be assisted by Shivam Dube and Jitesh Sharma, who haven’t had much to do in the matches that India have won so far in the series.
However, an interesting thing to keep an eye on would be the batting order, which has undergone a lot of changes, especially as far as the middle is concerned, in the series.
Regardless of the batting order, the onus will be on the top five batters to score the bulk of the runs for the team.
Bowlers: Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh
When it comes to India’s bowling attack, it would want to replicate the same performance it delivered in the previous completed game.
The bowling lineup, which comprised Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Kuldeep Yadav, restricted South Africa to 117 runs in Dharamsala and would look to do something similar in Ahmedabad.
The fast bowling duo of Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh will aim to pick wickets in the first six overs.
Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh will get support in the form of fast bowling all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube, and spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy in the middle overs.
The choice of six bowling options at Suryakumar Yadav’s disposal will make things a little easier for him during the game.
