Team India Begin South Africa Tour With Washout In 1st T20 International

Pic courtesy X/ICC

New Delhi: Team India started their tour of South Africa on a damp note as the first T20 International at Durban’s Kingsmead was abandoned on Sunday.

It was raining from the morning, and even though the match was to be played from 4 pm local time (7.30 pm), there weathergods didn’t relent.

The two captains – Suryakumar Yadav and Aiden Markram – couldn’t even go out for the toss. The umpires called off play around 5.50 pm local time (9.20 pm IST).

It’s a pity as tickets for the highly-anticipated clash were sold out a month in advance.

The second T20I will be played on December 12 at Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) and the third T20I on December 14 at Johannesburg.

The T20I series will be followed by a three-match ODI series and then two Test matches, which will se the return of regular captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah.