Hardik Pandya Returns, Washington Sundar Unlikely; India's Predicted Playing XI For 1st T20I at Barabati vs South Africa

Ind vs SA: With the ODI series over, the focus shifts to the five-match T20Is and with the World Cup coming up, the series promises to be mouthwatering. The first of the T20Is would be played in Barabati stadium on December 9 and both sides would look to get off to a winning start. But even before the match gets underway, there is much speculation over who will make the XI and who misses out. 

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Hardik Back, Will Sundar Miss Out? 

While Pandya back in the T20 fold is big news for India as he is a proven match-winner. Not just Pandya, Shubman Gill is also back and obviously he would be opening the batting. The rest of the XI would remain on expected lines. The nig question would be will allrounder Washington Sundar find a place in the XI? 

It is reported to be a red-soil wicket where the opening T20I would be played which invariably means the pacers will get more assistance. If that is the case, India may very well opt to have Shivam Dube in the XI instead of Sundar. The five-match series would give both sides an opportunity to prepare for the marquee event. The move means that India would field merely one specialist for the game and that nay be Kuldeep Yadav. 

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India's Predicted XI For 1st T20I

Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar / Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh

On bench: Shivam Dube/ Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Varun Chakravarthy