Former South African captain and legendary batsman of his time, Graeme Smith has given a big and surprising statement regarding the 2026 T20 World Cup. Graeme Smith says that the South African team will play well in Indian conditions and win the 2026 T20 World Cup title. However, Smith also admitted that it is almost certain that Team India will reach the semi-finals.

South Africa recently defeated India 2-0 in the Test series at home. After this the South African team lost in the ODI and T20 series. India won the ODI series 2-1. The T20 series was won by 4-1.

Graeme Smith said, looking at India’s talent, it can never be underestimated. This is the home World Cup. There is an interesting change going on in Indian cricket between the head coach Gautam (Gambhir) and the experienced players and it will be interesting to see how this change happens.,

SA20 League Commissioner Graeme Smith said while speaking to some media persons on Friday, ,India’s talent can never be ignored. This is the domestic World Cup. If India does not reach the last four, I will be very surprised. When you go to the World Cup, you want players to be prepared by playing competitive cricket. SA20 is a great platform where players learn to play under pressure by playing against local and international players.,

Let us tell you that the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup was held between India and South Africa. The Indian team had defeated South Africa in a close match. At one time, South Africa had to score only 25 runs in the last 4 overs to win, but the Indian bowlers turned the tables at the last moment and Team India almost won the lost match.

India has defeated South Africa by 233 runs in the third Youth ODI match. With this, India’s Under-19 team has defeated South Africa 3-0 in the 3-match ODI series. In the third ODI match, Team India, playing first, had scored 393 runs. Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Aaron George scored centuries for India. Chasing the huge target, the entire South African team was reduced to 160 runs.

In this match, South Africa won the toss and invited Team India to bat first. Indian openers, Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Aaron George batted brilliantly and made an opening partnership of 227 runs.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s century

Vaibhav Suryavanshi had completed his century in 63 balls in this match. This was Vaibhav’s second century in his List-A career. In this match, he scored 127 runs playing 74 balls, during which he hit 9 fours and 10 sixes from his bat. Apart from him, Aaron George played an inning of 118 runs in 106 balls. Suryavanshi and George had made an opening partnership of 227 runs. The Indian team lost its first wicket in 25.4 overs, at that time the team had scored 227 runs. After that, Team India added 166 runs in the next 148 balls.

Kishan Kumar Singh took the most wickets for India, who took 3 wickets while bowling only 4 overs. Mohammad Anan also succeeded in taking 2 wickets. Vaibhav Suryavanshi also tried his hand at bowling. He took one wicket for 10 runs in 2 overs.

clean sweep of south africa

India’s Under-19 team has won this Youth ODI series 3-0. In the first ODI match, the Indian team won by 25 runs via DLS method. In the second ODI match, Team India achieved the target of 246 runs in the 24th over itself. Now India has won the third ODI match by 233 runs.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi has scored a century in the third Youth ODI match against South Africa. Maintaining his excellent form, he completed his century in just 63 balls. Till scoring his century, he hit 8 sixes and 6 fours in his stormy innings. Suryavanshi is also captaining the Indian team in this Under-19 series. Earlier, he had played a strong half-century in the second ODI.

The Youth ODI series between the Under-19 teams of India and South Africa started from January 3. Under the captaincy of 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the Indian team has won both the ODI matches so far. In the third Youth ODI match against South Africa, he made an opening partnership of 227 runs with Aaron George.

Fifty in 24 balls

Vaibhav Suryavanshi started the innings in a very strong manner. He hit Pachasa in 24 balls, after which he played 39 balls to complete the next 50 runs. This is Suryavanshi’s second century in his List-A career of 9 matches. His bat is showing no signs of stopping.

In the third Youth ODI, Suryavanshi was out after scoring 127 runs in 74 balls. In this innings he hit 9 fours and 19 sixes. In his List-A career, he scored his first century against Pakistan in the Under-19 Asia Cup. In that match he played a historic inning of 171 runs.

scoring lots of runs

Vaibhav Suryavanshi played 2 matches for Bihar in Vijay Hazare Trophy. In that tournament, he scored 190 runs in 84 balls against Arunachal Pradesh. Before that, he had also scored a stormy century with his bat in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Vaibhav Suryavanshi has so far scored 480 runs in his 9-match List-A career.

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MrBeast Wants To Collaborated with Virat Kohli: YouTuber known worldwide as MrBeast, whose real name is James Stephen Donaldson, has invited Indian star batsman Virat Kohli for a video collaboration. MrBeast is known for his viral challenge videos. Big sports stars of the world are also seen in this challenge. MrBeast has more than 458 million subscribers on YouTube. He has previously done video collaborations with legendary players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Noah Liles, Neymar Jr. and Carlos Alcaraz. While talking to NDTV, MrBeast said that he wants to come back to India and during this time he has also given a special message for Virat Kohli.

What did MrBeast say about Virat?

MrBeast said, ‘I love you all very much. I want to come to India again soon. Hey Virat Kohli, if you are watching this interview, we want to shoot a video with you. You guys have always been amazing. Most people don’t know that India is one of our largest audience bases, so thank you very much to all of you.

MrBeast has already invited Virat

MrBeast has already invited Virat for video collaboration. In April last year (2025), he had also made a tweet tagging Kohli, which went viral on social media at that time.

Virat is ready for India-New Zealand ODI series

Virat Kohli will once again be seen in action in the ODI series between India and New Zealand starting from January 11, 2026. Virat’s recent form has been excellent and he finished the year 2025 as India’s highest run-scorer, finishing the year with a total of 651 runs. In the 3-match ODI series against South Africa last month, Virat scored two centuries and one half-century and scored 302 runs in three matches. After this, Virat made a comeback for Delhi in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Even in domestic cricket, Kohli looked in great form and played excellent innings of 131 and 77 runs respectively in the two matches.

IND U19 vs SA U19 Live Streaming: The second unofficial match of the Youth ODI series is to be played today between the Indian Under-19 cricket team and South Africa Under-19 team. Team India is currently ahead 1-0 in this three-match series and will try to make a strong hold in the series by winning today’s match. The most talked about in this match is about Indian captain Vaibhav Suryavanshi, from whom fans are expecting a big innings.

All eyes will be on Vaibhav Suryavanshi

Vaibhav Suryavanshi had created history by taking over the captaincy in the first ODI match. He became the world’s youngest Under-19 captain, but could not perform well with the bat. Now a responsible and impressive innings is expected from him in the second match. In view of the upcoming Under-19 World Cup, this series is considered very important for Vaibhav and the entire Indian team.

India’s strong performance in the first match

The Indian Under-19 team had shown a brilliant performance in the first match of the series. India batted first and scored a strong score of 300 runs. Harvansh Singh Pangalia played an excellent inning of 93 runs for the team, while RS Ambareesh made an important contribution of 65 runs. The match was interrupted due to rain and India won by 25 runs under Duckworth-Lewis rule.

For South Africa, JJ Basson performed well in bowling and took four wickets, but he could not stop the Indian batsmen from scoring big. While chasing the target, African batsman Jorick Van Schalkwyk scored an unbeaten 60 runs. Even after this the team remained away from victory.

When and where will the second match be played

place: Benoni.

Match Venue: Willowmoor Park Stadium

Start of the match: At 1 pm Indian time.

Live telecast and streaming information

The situation regarding live telecast of this match on TV is not clear yet. In the first match, live telecast could not be done on Star Sports due to technical reasons and no official confirmation has been given for the second match also.

However, the news of relief for the fans is that live streaming of the match may be available. The first ODI was shown live by Cricket South Africa on its official YouTube channel. The streaming of the second match is also expected to start from 12:30 pm on the same YouTube channel.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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