South Africa have benched Anrich Nortje in the high-voltage Super Eights clash against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Due to poor form, the pacer was benched in the Proteas’ first three matches in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026, but he made a return in the last league game against the UAE. In that game, he claimed two wickets for 28 runs in four overs. However, South Africa management wanted to bring back Kagiso Rabada into the set-up, despite him having a hard time in the tournament.
“As players, that’s what you look forward to being part of, and hopefully tonight is no different. From the previous game, we’ve made four changes to go back to our usual XI - Keshav (Maharaj) comes back in, Lungi (Ngidi) comes back in, Marco (Jansen) comes back in, and David (Miller) comes back in as well,” South Africa captain Aiden Markram said after the toss.
The decision is mostly tactical as South Africa want to back the same playing XI, that has given them success against the likes of New Zealand and Afghanistan.
South Africa opt to bat first
Meanwhile, Markram won the toss and elected to bat first. Leading up to the game, the experts noted that bowling first would be the ideal decision, with the dew expected to play a role in the second innings. However, Markram analysed that the surface looks dry and that could play a part.
“We are going to bat first. It looks like a really good wicket - a lot drier than the previous one we came across here - so we’re not expecting that early tackiness. We think it’s going to be a good surface throughout, and hopefully we can put a nice big score on the board. The boys are in good touch, which is always a blessing,” Markram said.
India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (w), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy
South Africa (Playing XI): Aiden Markram (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
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