Both India and South Africa are left with a handful of T20Is to ramp up preparations for the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the US, next June, and with the first T20I between the two teams already washed out in Durban, the focus shifts to Gqebera, where eyes will once again be on the skies with rain forecasts ahead of the second game on Tuesday. The weather for the third and final T20I, scheduled in Johannesburg, also doesn’t seem much promising with chances of precipitation.

These T20Is are the last competitive matches South Africa will play before announcing their T20 World Cup squad, who will play three matches in the West Indies ahead of the tournament. As far as India are concerned, they will have one more series – against Afghanistan in January – before the T20 World Cup. So for both teams, the series holds importance in finding and sorting their respective combinations, although they will also rely on performances in T20 leagues, especially the SA20 and IPL, where their mainstays play.

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But for the fringe players, the series presents a golden opportunity to board the flight to the Caribbean and the US. As far as the Indians are concerned, the likes of Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma have played 10 T20Is or fewer, and performing on the bouncy pitches of South Africa could have helped them push their cases when the five wise men led by chief selector Ajit Agarkar sits to discuss the T20 World Cup squad.

On the other hand, the Proteas could have two debutants – both bowlers in left-arm quick Nandre Burger, and right-arm medium-fast Ottniel Baartman – and might give opening batter Matthew Breetzke a run in the remaining two games, before the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, make their way back into the side.

Suryakumar Yadav, India’s captain for the three-match T20I rubber against the Proteas, however isn’t too concerned by the limited game time, adding that the IPL 2024, which will precede the T20 World Cup, will help the team management shortlist the team.

“I feel there are limited T20s going forward, before the T20 World Cup, but then we play 14 league games in the IPL as well. And players who have been playing in these T20 internationals… They’ve played a lot of games, and they have a lot of experience under their belt. So, we don’t think there will be an issue or any problem in selecting the squad because everyone knows their roles really well and responsibilities really well – (like) how to play in different situations,” Suryakumar had said before the start of the first T20I.

Similarly, South Africa could pick players from the SA20, which will run from January 10 to February 10. Aiden Markram, the Proteas skipper is also banking on the domestic T20 tournament to sort his combination before the marquee tournament in June.

“It’s a strange one. Not ideal that we have only six games (before the T20 World Cup) but we’re fortunate that there’s still a lot of T20 cricket, in terms of SA20 and the domestic T20 competition just after that,” Markram said.

“Hopefully, everyone can be fit and ready to go for us when it comes down to selecting the World Cup squad, which we will keep all our fingers crossed for. But guys will be playing T20 cricket and ultimately we will be able to get a good gauge of what our best squad is that we can send out for the World Cup,” he added.