The Indian Premier League 2022 concludes on May 29 in Ahmedabad, while the T20I series against South Africa kicks off in Delhi on June 9. Cuttack and Vizag will be hosting the next two games on June 12 and 14 before the series concludes in Rajkot and Bangalore on June 17 and 19, respectively.
The five T20Is are integral to both teams’ preparations for the T20 World Cup 2022 to be played in October-November in Australia and will be South Africa’s first trip to Indian shores after a called off visit in early 2020.
The Proteas arrived in India for a three-match ODI series in March 2020, which was, however, abandoned due to the surging Covid outbreak in India. The first ODI in Dharamshala was a washout due to rain before the pandemic engulfed the final two one-dayers and they had to be cancelled.
South Africa tour of India
Date | Match | Venue |
June 9 | 1st T20I | Delhi |
June 12 | 2nd T20I | Cuttack |
June 14 | 3rd T20I | Vizaq |
June 17 | 4th T20I | Rajkot |
June 19 | 5th T20I | Bengaluru |
South Africa were due to make up for those lost games through a short visit in September last year. But that was also called off after BCCI was forced to pause and reschedule the IPL 2021 in the September-October window following the viral breach inside different teams’ bubbles in early May.
The Delhi T20I begins a potential set of nine T20Is that India and South Africa could be playing against each other ahead of the T20 World Cup; the remaining four being part of India’s away trip to the rainbow nation in December-January, which were postponed after the tour had to be rejigged due to the spread of Covid’s Omicron variant in Africa.
India played out the three Tests and three ODIs, but not the T20Is that were initially part of their tour itinerary. Those matches are expected to be held in late September or early October, few weeks before the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup.
India and South Africa are in the same group for the marquee event in Australia and will be playing each other in Perth on October 30.