Former captain of the Indian team and world number-1 batsman in ODI cricket, Rohit Sharma has given a befitting reply to the critics who talked about his retirement. In the year 2025, Hitman played all 14 ODI matches for India, in which he scored a total of 650 runs with the help of 2 centuries and 4 half-centuries. Rohit batted brilliantly in the 3-match ODI series held in Australia in October this year (2025). After which, he was chosen ‘Player of the Series’. With this, Rohit reached number 1 in the ranking of batsmen in ODI for the first time. Now on the question of retirement, Rohit clearly said that his last match will happen whenever he wants. At present he is playing well and will continue playing as long as he feels good. At the height he is at, he would like to remain at the same place.

Rohit was removed from captaincy before the Australia series.

Before the Australia series, there were many questions regarding Rohit Sharma’s international career. When he was removed from the captaincy of India’s ODI team, people even started talking about retirement. Whereas Rohit Sharma made the team win the ICC Champions Trophy in his last series. Questions were being raised on Rohit, who had failed to score runs on some foreign tours. He first scored runs in Australia and then maintained his form in the home series against South Africa and scored two half-centuries. Rohit will now be seen playing for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy this week.

Rohit gave statement in an event held in Gurugram

Rohit had reached an event held in Gurugram on Sunday i.e. December 21, 2025, where he gave a big update regarding his future in international cricket. He said, ‘My life was also similar, it was very difficult to start. But once I gained speed, when I sat in the plane, the altitude that the plane had attained has not yet come down. I think that’s what matters and I don’t want that plane to land so early. I still have to stay on top.

Rohit further said, ‘We all know, I am sure everyone has traveled by plane. That’s why I gave the example of a plane. When the plane reaches an altitude of 35,000-40,000 feet, we feel good and relaxed, we eat and sleep. This is life. Once you gain speed, it is important that you stay there, and then landing is also important, but it depends on you when you want to land.

All-rounder Shivam Dubey, while defending out-of-form Suryakumar Yadav, said that India’s T20 captain is a player who can win matches single-handedly and will return to form at the right time.

Suryakumar scored his last T20 half-century in October 2024. There are less than two months left for the World Cup, so the pressure on them is increasing. Dubey said before the fourth T20 match against South Africa, “He is a player who can win all five matches on his own.” If he is not in form, it does not mean that he is not a good player.

He said, “He is one of the best players.” No one else can do what he has done. Yes, runs are not being scored right now but he will return to form at the right time. Can play a big innings at any time.

Dubey said, “He is a warrior.” Whether he scores runs or not, he will remain like this. He always wants to do something for the team. He is a very aggressive player and a 360 degree batsman.

Vice-captain Shubhman Gill is also not in form but Dubey expressed confidence in him too. He said, “Shubman Gill is such a player that even if his form is up and down, his average and strike rate remains good. He has been playing for India for so many years.

Dubey said, “There are ups and downs in the game but he is one of the best batsmen in India.”

Axar Patel Ruled Out Of T20I Series Against South Africa: The third match of the ongoing 5-match T20 series between India and South Africa was played on Sunday, December 14, 2025, at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala. In this match, Team India made a brilliant comeback by winning the third T20 International match and took a 2-1 lead in the series. The next match of the series is to be played on Wednesday i.e. 17th December at Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, before which the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) gave an update.

Actually, star all-rounder Akshar Patel is out of the series. Akshar was not available for selection in the playing eleven even in Dharamshala. In the update released by BCCI, it was said that due to ill health, he has been ruled out of the remaining two matches of the series. However, he is with the team in Lucknow, where his further medical checkup will be done.

Shahbaz Ahmed got a chance in Team India

Bengal all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed has been included in Team India in place of Akshar Patel. Before this, Shahbaz has played three ODIs and two T20 Internationals for India, but his last match in blue jersey was against Afghanistan in Hangzhou during the Asian Games in September 2023. He has dismissed two batsmen so far in the T20 format for the Indian team. At the same time, he has not got a chance to bat yet.

No update on Jasprit Bumrah

BCCI has not yet given any update on star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah was not available for team selection in Dharamshala. Because due to personal reasons he had returned to his home. There has been no official update yet regarding his joining the team. At the same time, in the absence of Bumrah, Harshit Rana played the third T20 International.

Indian team for the last two matches against South Africa:

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubhman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakraborty, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed.

Mohammad Kaif On Suryakumar Yadav Poor Form: The third match of the ongoing 5-match T20 series between India and South Africa was played last night i.e. on December 14, 2025 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala. In this match also, Indian team’s T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav had a flop show and till now he has not scored runs in all the three matches of the series.

Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif took Team India captain Suryakumar Yadav to task for repeating the mistake of the previous match in the third T20 match. Questions are being raised continuously regarding the form of Suryakumar. Because he is continuously proving to be a flop. In the third T20 match played in Dharamshala, he was out after scoring just 12 runs after playing 11 balls.

Mohammad Kaif gave a statement on his YouTube channel

While talking on his YouTube channel, Kaif said that while chasing the target of 118 runs, the captain should have batted at his usual place, so that he could have finished the match unbeaten. He said that these 30-40 runs could have proved very beneficial for Suryakumar before the T20 World Cup.

Kaif said, ‘Suryakumar Yadav had a chance to bat at number 3 today. Because India had won the match and the powerplay was also good. He had a chance to spend time on the pitch by coming at number 3 and remain unbeaten by scoring 30 or 40 runs. This would have been good for the upcoming matches. He is a strong player and there is no question about his batting ability.

He further said, ‘The question is on his form, because he has been a good player, hence questions are being raised on his form. He had a good chance to bat and remain unbeaten, which would have been good for the remaining T20 matches before the World Cup. One innings can change any player.

IND vs SA Next Match: The ongoing five-match T20 series between India and South Africa has reached its exciting turn. By registering a spectacular win in the third T20 match played in Dharamshala, India has taken a significant lead of 2-1 in the series. Now both the teams have reached Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, for the fourth T20, where the match is expected to be very interesting.

When and where will the next India-South Africa match be played?

The fourth T20 match of the series between India and South Africa will be played on Wednesday, 17 December. This match will be held at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. The match will start at 7:00 pm (IST). The special thing is that this match will be played just a day after the IPL 2026 mini auction, due to which the curiosity of the players and fans has increased further.

India eyes series win

India had defeated South Africa with a brilliant all-round performance in Dharamshala. The Indian team would like to maintain this momentum and win the series. At the same time, for South Africa this match will be like ‘do or die’, because defeat will knock them out of the series.

Complete information about live telecast and streaming

The live telecast of India vs South Africa T20 series will be done on Star Sports Network. At the same time, viewers who want to watch the match on mobile or laptop can enjoy live streaming on JioHotstar app and website.

IND vs SA T20I Squad

Indian team

Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakraborty, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar.

South African team

Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram (captain), Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brewis, David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Janssen, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Lutho Sipamala, Lungi Ngidi, Reeza Hendricks, Corbin Bosch, George Linde, Tony De Jorzi, Otniel Baartman, Kwena Mafaka.

India has taken a 2-1 lead in the five-match T20 series by winning the third match of the T20 series against South Africa by 7 wickets. In this match played at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Indian fast bowler Arshdeep Singh was chosen as the ‘Player of the Match’, who took 2 wickets for just 13 runs in 4 overs.

After the match, Arshdeep Singh said, “When I came to the ground, everyone was telling me that this is also your home ground. So first of all I told them – ‘No, this is not my home ground.’ We just focused on the basics and trusted our skills.”

India had won the first match of the series played in Cuttack by 101 runs, after which it lost the next match played in New Chandigarh by 51 runs, but now Team India has registered a spectacular victory.

Arshdeep Singh said, “When you play at this level, there are some days when you are not able to do the things you want to do. The last match was a bad day, so it feels good to bowl well in this match. In this match, I just pitched the ball in the right places and tried to get as much help as I could from the wicket. The wicket had little support, the weather was also cold, so there was a lot of swing and seam. I just bowled the ball in the right places and got the reward. My niece is here, she is 10 months old, I want to dedicate this award to her.”

Talking about this match played in Dharamshala on Sunday, the South African team was limited to just 117 runs. In response, Team India registered victory in just 15.5 overs.

Abhishek Sharma has once again proved that he is one of the most dangerous openers in T20 cricket. In the third T20 match against South Africa, he performed a feat which no batsman in the world had been able to do before. In this match played at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala, Abhishek Sharma became the first batsman in the world to hit a six on the first ball of the innings and did this thrice.

Did a unique feat on the first ball

India’s innings started with the ball of Lungi Ngidi. Abhishek Sharma sent the very first ball out of the stands without any hesitation. With this he created history. The special thing is that this happened for the third time in the year 2025 when Abhishek hit a six on the first ball of India’s innings. Before this, he had already achieved this feat in the India-UAE Asia Cup match in Dubai and then in the India-Pakistan Asia Cup Super Four match.

From Rohit to Sanju, included in special club

The first Indian to join this special club was Rohit Sharma, who hit a six on the first ball of the innings against England in 2021. After this, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson also achieved this feat, but Abhishek Sharma left everyone behind by doing this thrice.

match winning innings with record

Along with making records, Abhishek Sharma also gave a great start to the team. He played a quick inning of 35 runs in just 18 balls, which included three sixes and three fours. A partnership of 60 runs for the first wicket with Shubman Gill laid the foundation of India’s victory. Batting first, the South African team was limited to 117 runs, which India achieved in just 15.5 overs.

Kohli’s record also on target

Abhishek Sharma’s form in 2025 has been very excellent. So far this year, he has scored 1569 runs in 40 T20 matches. If he scores 46 more runs in the remaining two T20 matches, he will break Virat Kohli’s record of scoring most T20 runs by an Indian batsman in a calendar year.

Indian T20 team captain Suryakumar Yadav, who has failed to play big innings for a long time, said on Sunday after the seven-wicket win in the third T20 International against South Africa that he is not able to score runs but it is not that he is not in rhythm.

Suryakumar said in the awards ceremony after the match, “I have batted brilliantly in the nets. When there is a need to score runs, they will be scored.” Suryakumar has played innings of 12, five and 12 runs in three matches of this series.

He said, “It is not that I am not in form, but I have failed to score runs.” The Indian captain said that the team made a good comeback after learning from the defeat in the last match.

He said, “Sports teaches you a lot. It was great to make a comeback like this. We learned a lot after the last match. What we did today and in Cuttack was amazing.

India took a 2-1 lead in the series with a seven-wicket win after bowling out South Africa for 117 runs with 25 balls to spare. The Indian captain said, “We will enjoy the victory and after reaching Lucknow tomorrow, we will sit and discuss the plans for the next match.”

The South African team had to face defeat by 7 wickets in the third match of the series played against India at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium. While giving credit for the victory to the Indian bowlers, the South African captain admitted that they did not give the visiting team a chance to score many runs.

After trailing 1-2 in the series, the South African captain said, “Initially the conditions were difficult. Indian bowlers bowled at the right places and in no time we lost 4-5 wickets. If the situation continues to be like this, you will have to find ways to deal with it and try to put some pressure on them. They (Indian team) should be given credit for the victory. They did not give us a chance to score many runs.”

Markram was the only player in this match who scored a half-century. Markram played an inning of 61 runs in 46 balls with 2 sixes and 6 fours. Regarding his batting, he said, “I tried to take the match till the end. The whole time I thought that if I had taken the score to 140-150, the match would have been closer. If the situation remains like this then we will have to find some answers.”

He said, “In such circumstances, perhaps in that match you should choose such bowlers that you can target. I don’t think this is a wicket where you can get away with trying to hit everyone. You have to be able to score runs and keep the scoreboard moving. I think you will reach a score of 140 or 150.”

The captain believes that his team will learn a lesson from this defeat. He said, “You always want to encourage your players. Everyone will take a lesson from this match and become a better cricketer after that.”

India scored 117 runs in the match played in Dharamshala on Sunday, in response to which India won in 15.5 overs. Team India is currently ahead 1-0 in the series. The remaining matches of the series are to be played on 17 December and 19 December.

India vs South Africa 3rd T20 match was played in Dharamshala, in which Team India won by 7 wickets. The Indian team achieved the target of 118 runs with 25 balls remaining. The match was low-scoring, where only 237 runs were scored in both the innings combined. Nevertheless, many records were made in this match. See here five records, which were made in the third T20 match between India and South Africa.

5 big records made in the third T20 match:

Hardik Pandya made world record

Hardik Pandya completed his 100 wickets in T20 International by dismissing Tristan Stubbs in the third T20 match. He has now become the first fast bowling all-rounder in the world to score 1000 runs as well as take 100 wickets in international T20 cricket.

Shubman Gill’s most international runs in 2025

Shubman Gill has become the batsman with the highest international run scorer in the year 2025. Gill has scored 1764 runs in 35 international matches this year. He achieved this feat by playing an innings of 28 runs against South Africa. He left behind Shay Hope of West Indies, who has scored 1753 runs this year.

Tilak Verma came out ahead

Tilak Verma’s average against South Africa in international T20 cricket history is 70.50. Tilak has topped the list of Indians with the best average against a single team in T20. He has left behind Virat Kohli, who has an average of 70.28 against Pakistan in T20.

Tilak defeated Gill-Kohli

Tilak Verma has left behind Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill in terms of completing the fastest 4,000 runs in T20 cricket. He established this record in 125 innings, whereas Gill had completed 4 thousand runs in 129 and Virat Kohli had completed 4 thousand runs in 138 innings. In this list, Rituraj Gaikwad (116) and KL Rahul (117) are ahead of him.

Fastest 50 wickets in T20

Varun Chakraborty has completed 50 wickets in the 32nd T20 match of his career. He has come second in the list of Indians who have completed the fastest 50 wickets in international T20 cricket. Before him, Kuldeep Yadav had completed 50 wickets in 30 matches.

Also read:

Year Ender: Suryakumar did not bat this year, many big players could not do wonders in T20 International in 2025