Bhubaneswar: Ahead of the first match of the five-game T20I series, cricketers of both India and South Africa arrived here on Sunday, the match scheduled to be held at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on 9thDecember.
Both teams along with the support staff travelled by a special flight and were received a grand welcome, they were escorted to a designated hotel in Bhubaneswar in special buses and a secured convoy. On arrival at the hotel, the teams received a traditional and grand welcome with tribal dance performances, drum beats, flower showers amid tight security arrangements.
After suffering defeat in the Test series against South Africa and the team India bounced back in the ODI series by clinching a 2-1 victory. According to the pitch curator, the match is likely to be high-scoring, further intensifying the excitement among fans which is already at its peak. Earlier, five of South African players batting all-rounder Donavan Ferreira, right-handed opening batsman R Hendricks, left-handed middle order batsman and an occasional wicket-keeper David A Miller, left-arm spinner George Frederik Linde and Kwenam Tshegofatso, who were not in the ODI squad reached Bhubaneswar.
The Indian all-rounder Hardik Padia who was out of action for two months due to an injury named in the T20 squad already reached Bhubaneswar on Saturday evening. Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) President Pankaj Lochan Mohanty said “OCA along with other agencies took all precaution to organise a hassle-free match at Barabati Stadium. Both the teams will join the practice season on Monday”.
The five T20Is against South Africa will be played on December 9, 11, 14, 17 and 19 in Cuttack, New Chandigarh, Dharamsala, Lucknow and Ahmedabad respectively. Suryakumar Yadav will lead the side while Gill will be his deputy.
India's T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Shubman Gill (vice-capt), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar
