No more Tests, no more ODIs. India and South Africa will close out the year by sparring against each of across five T20I fixtures between December 9 and 19 – in Cuttack, New Chandigarh, Dharamsala, Lucknow and Ahmedabad – with an eye on next year’s T20 World Cup. 

South Africa took the Test series 2-0, India won the ODIs 2-1. Who will claim authority in the shortest format? A cracking contest awaits. 

The odds are stacked against South Africa, ranked fifth in the format, against the top-ranked team and defending World Cup champions. India last lost a bilateral T20I series at home in February 2019. That is a mighty impressive record, and the way that this Indian team, under Suryakumar Yadav, has embraced a more aggressive and riskier brand of T20I cricket has been entertaining to watch. 

The mission is clearly next year’s T20 World Cup, to be co-hosted by India. Under Suryakumar, India have not lost a single bilateral series. A couple months ago, they won the T20 Asia Cup without really being pushed to the limit. These five games are India’s last assignment of 2025, in any format, and they won’t play T20Is again until the third week of January when New Zealand arrive. 

The squad wears a settled look, even though Shubman Gill continues to miss out due to the neck spasm that ruled him out of the second Test and all three ODIs against South Africa, and Hardik Pandya continues to be absent. 

The return of Pandya, who has not played since the Asia Cup in September, is a big boost for India and settles the playing 11. He can open the bowling and bowl first-change, and his finishing skills add muscle to a middle order comprising Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar. 

Abhishek Sharma, the top-ranked batsman in T20Is, is coming off a tremendous innings for Punjab in the domestic T20 competition – 148 off 52 balls, with 16 sixes – followed by scores of 50 off 19 and 34 off nine. If Gill is not passed fit, Sanju Samson might win a recall to the 11 and open again with Abhishek, with whom he formed a very good pair in 2024 and earlier this year. Varma, ranked sixth, is in need of some runs, as is the skipper, SKY, who is two spots behind him at eight place. 

South Africa have a 5-9 record in T20Is this year. In July, they made the final of a tri-series hosted by Zimbabwe and narrowly lost to New Zealand by three runs in the final. In August, they went to Australia and were edged 2-1 in a closely contest series (the hosts won the decider by two wickets off the penultimate delivery of the game). In September, another three-match series in England was poised at 1-1 before the final match was washed out. 

A second-string team was next beaten by Namibia in a one-off, and South Africa’s most recent efforts in the format resulted in a 2-1 loss to Pakistan. 

Overall, disappointing results, but there were several close calls and moments that the Proteas can look back at and identify what not to repeat. And the squad for these five matches against India are stronger than the ones selected for the aforementioned series. 

Aiden Markram, David Miller, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi and the returning Anrich Nortje provide heaps of experience. Tristan Stubbs and Dewald Brevis are the future superstars in waiting. Marco Jansen is having the tour of his life. Donovan Ferreira has recent success on his side. Corbin Bosch is a handy allrounder. 

This team can legitimately claim to be contenders to end India’s unbeaten home streak dating back nearly seven years. But it won’t be easy, because SKY’s team has patented the T20I format and are looking like favourites for the 2026 World Cup. 

India likely playing 11: 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Sanju Samson (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Jitesh Sharma, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Varun Chakravarthy

South Africa likely playing 11: 1 Aiden Markram (capt), 2 Reeza Hendricks, 3 Quinton de Kock (wk), 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 Tristan Stubbs, 6 Donovan Ferreira, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Corbin Bosch/George Linde, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Lutho Sipamla, 11 Lungi Ngidi