India will look to seal the series when they take on South Africa in the fourth T20I at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Wednesday, December 17.
For the third T20I in Dharamsala, India made two changes, bringing in Kuldeep Yadav and Harshit Rana in place of Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel. The duo is likely to retain their spots for the Lucknow encounter as Bumrah and Axar remain unavailable.
Bumrah returned home after a close family member was hospitalized, according to PTI reports Axar was eliminated from the rest of the series due to illness. Both Harshit and Kuldeep impressed in Dharamsala, claiming two wickets each as India registered a comfortable seven-wicket win.
Meanwhile, there was considerable discussion about Sanju Samson’s absence from the playing eleven. His omission of the first three T20Is raised eyebrows, especially given his impressive record against South Africa. Samson scored 216 runs in four matches against the Proteas at an average of 72 at a strike rate of 194.59, including two centuries.
Meanwhile, Aiden Markram’s South Africa have shuffled their playing XI throughout the series. However, with the upcoming game being a must-win game, the visitors are likely to field their strongest possible XI.
South Africa could consider bringing back the experienced David Miller in place of Donovan Ferreira, with Miller’s immense exposure to high-pressure situations adding much-needed stability to the middle order. The Proteas may also look at the opportunity to provide left-arm seamer Kwena Mapakha, who is yet to feature in the ongoing series.
India predicted XI
Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy
Republic of South Africa Projected XI
Resistance Hendricks, Wk), Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Donovan Reader, Marco Jansen, Bosch Corb, Northern Anrich, New Lungi, Ottneil Baartman
– The end
Issued by:
sabyasachi chowdhury
Published on:
December 16, 2025
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