India made one change to their playing XI for the third T20I game against South Africa in Centurion on Wednesday. After a setback defeat in the last match, India handed an international debut to Ramandeep Singh while Lutho Sipamla came into the playing XI for South Africa.
The 27-year-old batting pace all-rounder replaced the struggling fast bowler Avesh Khan in India’s playing XI. Ramandeep’s inclusion came as a surprise as India have two specialist fast bowlers Yash Dayal and Vijaykumar Vyshak available on the bench.
Ramandeep enjoyed a breakthrough season during the IPL 2024 for Kolkata Knight Riders and was also a part of the Indian team for the recent ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2024.
“We have done well in the last two games while batting first,” Suryakumar Yadav said during the toss. “The boys have come out with clear plans and are executing it, I have been really happy with that. Just be clear, go out and enjoy yourself (the message from him and the management). These boys have made my job easier. We have one change – Ramandeep makes his debut. Avesh has done well for us but one of the two bowlers had to make a sacrifice.”
Ramandeep played a crucial role in KKR’s road to IPL 2024 glory. He scored 125 runs at a strike rate of 201.61 and took eight catches to steal the limelight. Ramandeep has scored 544 runs in 37 T20 innings at a strike rate of 170.00 and will be looking to make a big impact on his debut at SuperSport Park.
India Playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakravarthy.
South Africa Playing XI: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Lutho Sipamla.