Johannesburg - The Proteas have played India on 10 occasions across all formats this year already. They have won seven of the contests, lost just two, and had one abandoned due to rain.
On the basis of this alone Temba Bavuma's team should be considered rank favourites. And even more so due to the fact that they have won five of their last six T20I series.
But yet on Wednesday in Thiruvananthapuram they will still head into the first T20I of this new three-match series as the underdogs. It's just how it is when visiting the subcontinent powerhouse where cricket borders on being a religion.
The task is even greater this time with captain Rohit Sharma and superstar Virat Kohli returning to the Indian squad after missing the July series against the Proteas. Both are among the leading run-scorers in the history of T20I cricket and pose an entirely different challenge for the Proteas this time around.
Bavuma said: ”We are expecting a competitive series like it always is. The last time we were here we were tested, and challenged in all departments of our game, and I think we answered it quite well.
"But those are big names with big pedigree behind them, and obviously as you saw in the last while their performances have boosted the confidence of the team. We expect them to lead from the front, but it’s good for us to come up against the best. You expect those guys to bring a lot of confidence and X-factor into the team."
It has though not been the Proteas way to focus on the opposition. They usually have enough of their own "side-shows" and have to work really hard on maintaining their own focus. And that's exactly what Bavuma is trying to do after being caught in the eye of a rip-roaring storm since his omission at last week’s inaugural SA20 auction.
“My focus is on the team. I still have a role as the captain, and that is to lead and serve the team. My focus is on the World Cup, and making sure we are in the best space possible going into that tournament. Everything else, I try not to give it too much attention and energy. At the moment I am just trying to serve the team as best as possible.
“I’m here to make sure the guys are in the best space possible going into that big World Cup tournament. All the other distractions, side-shows, that’s stuff I will deal with on a personal level. But being here within the team, as long as I am still wearing the shirt, it will be to serve and lead the team.”
Bavuma’s approach to the latest crisis to envelop the men's national cricket team can only be beneficial to him and his team's cause, for his personal battle upfront with the returning Jasprit Bumrah could set the tone for the series.
The Proteas skipper, and in the turn the team, struggled during the Powerplay during the last series when Bhuvneshwar Kumar dominated the new-ball exchanges. There is some relief on offer with "Bhuvi" being rested ahead of the T20 World Cup, but Bumrah still poses a major threat to the Proteas chances of starting on the front foot.
"Facing their new-ball bowlers is quite challenging, they get the ball to swing and move quite a bit in the Powerplay. I think probably a little, [but] not more than what we are accustomed to back home. The key is to limit the damage and not let those wickets fall, and then try to get momentum going into the innings,” Bavuma said.
Both Bavuma and coach Mark Boucher have indicated the line-up during this series is about providing the entire squad with opportunities leading up to the T20 World Cup and it may not necessarily be the strongest XI just yet.
Probable teams for first T20I:
India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Rishabh Pant, 6 Axar Patel, 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 Deepak Chahar, 9 Arshdeep Singh, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal
South Africa (probable): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Temba Bavuma (capt), 3 Rilee Rossouw, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 David Miller, 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Andile Phelukwayo/Dwaine Pretorius, 8 Marco Jansen, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi