India head into the T20Is against South Africa with a mixed bag of results behind them. They suffered a 0-2 defeat in the Test series but responded well by clinching the ODIs 2–1. In the series decider at Vizag,Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed an unbeaten 116 and Virat Kohli added a fluent 65, powering India to a dominant nine-wicket win.
Although the Test results didn’t go India’s way, the limited-overs side looks re-energized. With depth across departments and home support behind them, the hosts will look to translate their ODI momentum into the T20Is and continue asserting control in the shortest format.
Key stats and milestones to watch in the India vs South Africa T20I showdown
1 — Jasprit Bumrah needs one more wicket to reach 100 wickets in Men’s T20Is
59 – Suryakumar Yadav is only 59 runs away from joining the elite 9000-run club in T20 cricket. Among Indian batters, only Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have scaled that mark so far.
246 – Suryakumar Yadav is 246 runs away from entering the 3000-run club in Men’s T20Is, which currently features only Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli among Indians.
4 – Sanju Samson is just four runs away from the 8000-run mark in Men’s T20 cricket. Once he gets there, he will become the sixth Indian to do so, joining the elite company of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul.
2 – Hardik Pandya is just two wickets away from joining the 100-wicket club in T20 Internationals. As of now, Arshdeep Singh remains the only Indian bowler to have reached that mark in men’s T20Is.
2 wickets + 140 runs – A big milestone is in sight for Hardik. If he adds 140 runs to his tally and takes two more wickets in this series, he will become the first Indian and only the fourth cricketer globally to achieve the double of 2000 T20I runs and 100 wickets. The only players to have completed this feat so far are Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Nabi, Virandeep Singh, and Sikandar Raza.
5 – Varun Chakravarthy requires five wickets to touch 50 T20I wickets. If he manages to complete the milestone in his next appearance, he’ll overtake Kuldeep Yadav and become the fastest Indian to the mark, breaking the current record of 30 matches.
163 – Shubman Gill requires 163 runs to bring up his 1000th run in T20 Internationals a milestone well within reach this series.
4– Tilak Varma needs only 4 more runs to reach the 1000-run milestone in T20Is. Achieving it early in the series would place him as the fourth-fastest Indian to do so, behind Virat Kohli, Abhishek Sharma, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav.
12 – Kuldeep Yadav is 12 scalps short of reaching 100 wickets in T20 Internationals. Achieving it quickly would also allow him to challenge Rashid Khan’s record (53 games) as the fastest bowler to that triple-digit milestone.
47 – Axar Patel needs 47 more runs to become the first Indian with 3500 runs and 250+ wickets in men’s T20 cricket — a rare all-rounder benchmark.
6 – Suryakumar Yadav also needs six more maximums to reach the landmark of 400 career sixes in T20s.
5 – Sanju Samson is five runs away from the 1000-run milestone in Men’s T20 Internationals.