Hyderabad: Virat Kohli led Team India is all set to begin their home season with a three-match Twenty 20 International (T20I) series against South Africa, starting on September 15. The first match will be played at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium (HPCA) in Dharamsala on Sunday.
Ahead of the match, take a look at important stats and facts.
Head to Head:
- India and South Africa have locked horns in 13 T20I matches between themselves till date, with the Men in Blue coming out on top in eight of those encounters, while South Africa managed to win remaining five games.
- Poor home record against South Africa:
- Interestingly, India have lost both their fixtures against South Africa in T20Is at home - by seven wickets at Dharamsala on 2 October 2015 and by six wickets at Cuttack on 5 October 2015.
- Interestingly, South Africa is the only team against whom India is yet to win a T20I match at home.
Overall record at home:
- Overall, India have played 36 T20Is at home, out of which they won 21 and lost 15.
Venue stats:
- Total six T20Is have been played in Dharamsala, out of which four have been won by the teams batting first and two by teams while chasing.
- The average 1st innings score is 166 at Dharamshala in T20Is
- 200/3 is the highest team total in T20Is at HPCA, Dharamshala is by South Africa against India in 2015. Interestingly, South Africa chased down a target of 200 to beat India.
- In the same match, India opener Rohit Sharma smashed 106 off 66 balls, which is the highest individual score at this venue.
- South Africa's seven-wicket win against India at Dharamsala on 2 October 2015 is the biggest victory-margin in terms of wickets in T20Is involving both the teams.
- Netherland's Paul van Meekeren and Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan are the only two bowlers who have bagged four wickets in a T20Is at this venue.
Records to look out for:
- Shikhar Dhawan (6,956 runs) needs 44 more runs to complete his 7,000 T20 runs. He will be the fourth Indian batsman and 15th overall batsman to reach the landmark.
- Rohit Sharma needs 84 runs to surpass Martin Guptill (424) and become the leading run-scorer against SA in T20Is.
- Quinton de Kock (4,936 runs) needs 64 runs to complete his 5,000 T20 runs. He will be the sixth South African cricketer to score 5,000 T20 runs.
- KL Rahul needs 101 runs to complete 1000 runs in his T20I career.
- Hardik Pandya (13 wickets) is two wickets away to become the second-most wicket-taker as an Indian pacer in the home T20I history. Jasprit Bumrah tops the list with 24 T20I wickets at home.
