Team India take on South Africa in the first of the five-match T20I series starting in New Delhi on Thursday.
The Men in Blue are on a 12-match winning streak and come Thursday, they can create an all-time record of winning 13 T20I games in a row.
However, for head coach Rahul Dravid, the primary aim over the next 10 days will be to narrow down on a core group of players going into the World Cup in October.
And he couldn't have hoped for a better opposition than a gritty South African side which has seen its stock rise recently.
With the likes of skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli rested for the series, stand-in-captain KL Rahul is a certainty at the top but it would be a tough choice between Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan as his opening partner.
The South African T20 side will be playing together for the first time since the World Cup last year and skipper Temba Bavuma said the Proteas will also be looking to identify players for specific roles for the Australia edition.
India: KL Rahul (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk),Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (C), Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Marco Jansen.
When: June 9 (Thursday)
Where to Watch: Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD
Live Streaming: Hotstar app
Timing: 7:00 pm onwards IST
