The Indian Cricket Team and the South African Cricket Team are locking horns with each other in the first match of the five-T20I series. The series opener between the two teams is taking place at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Tuesday, December 9.

South Africa won the toss and opted to field first and yet again Indian combination was something that caught the attention of many. One of the top highlights was the snub of Kuldeep Yadav from the Indian XI for the first T20I.

IND vs SA: Why is Kuldeep Yadav not playing the 1st T20I against South Africa?

Kuldeep Yadav, who is one of the lead spinners in the Indian team, has warmed the bench on multiple occasions. In the ongoing game against South Africa too, he has been dropped due to the team combination with Varun Chakravarthy getting the nod ahead.

Kuldeep Yadav was even released from the Indian squad for the last T20I against Australia. It was expected that he would be there in the home series against South Africa. But that too wasn’t the case as he warmed the bench yet again for India.

Speaking at the toss, Suryakumar Yadav said that they have prepared well and they want to be fearless and enjoy their game. While talking about the selection, he said that they have a good headache.

“We had a good series in Australia. Now we play five T20s against South Africa and then we play against New Zealand, so 15 good T20s. I think it’s good preparation. Same thing what we’ve been doing in the last few series: be fearless, enjoy the game, and be at it for the next three hours. It (selection) is a very good headache to have. But I’ll tell you the guys who are missing out: Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar and Harshit Rana.”

India and South Africa playing 11 for the first IND vs SA T20I

South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Lutho Sipamla, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje

India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma(w), Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh

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