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As the Test season is dawning around the world, South Africa and the West Indies have already moved on to the wham bam of T20Is.
Two of the most entertaining sides in the world, frustrated with a lack of recent trophies and the 2024 men's T20 World Cup scars but buoyed with promising young talent, would try to bash each other in three T20Is in the Caribbean.
Both are missing some big stars and the few available would probably be exhausted with the amount of cricket they have played in recent months. So, naturally, the attention would be on the future as much as the present, with South African captain Aiden Markram already calling the series the start of the preparations for the 2026 T20 World Cup.
He'd be equally interested in seeing who stands up in what situation against which player in the opposition. Below, we have listed three player battles that we'd be the most interested in watching:
#3 Akeal Hosein vs Aiden Markram
This might be the biggest battle from the West Indies' perspective. The team relies heavily on left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein's new-ball skills and especially his ability to control the run flow in the powerplay.
Hosein is also one of the best in the world in the powerplay but he's yet to get South African captain Aiden Markram out in four T20Is. Markram has scored 31 runs against him in 19 balls at a strike rate of 163.2.
After the slightly restrained opening partnership of Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen, Markram would have a big responsibility of controlling the momentum of his side's batting, especially with his prowess against spin.
Hosein would love to tie him down, especially if there's some help in the wicket and how the South African counters him would make for a fascinating watch.
#2 Kwena Maphaka vs Nicholas Pooran
Fans of the Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise would want to watch this battle as much as South African fans. Proteas' fast bowling sensation Kwena Maphaka, who played a couple of games for Mumbai Indians earlier in the year, is set to make his T20I debut at the age of 18 in this series.
The breakout star of the last under-19 World Cup is touted as the next big thing for Proteas. After a wobbly start in the IPL, the left-arm quick has grown and matured and is not too far away from being the finished product ready to play all formats.
With much less at stake in this series, he'd be able to express himself more freely. The one wicket he'd really want would be of Nicholas Pooran, who either captains or plays as a senior batter in several MI franchises around the world.
Pooran has been in stellar form in 2024 and though he won't take Mphaka lightly, he won't miss out on any opportunity to hit him for sixes either. Pooran's strike rate against left-arm fast bowlers is only around 115 in T20s but it jumps to 170 against left-arm medium bowlers -- signifying the small margin of error with regard to pace and guile for Maphaka.
If the youngster comes on top anyway, it'd be his way of announcing that he belongs at this level.
#1 Tristan Stubbs vs Shamar Joseph
Now this battle is pure box office. That's the only criterion.
Tristan Stubbs is one of the most talented young wicketkeepers in the world. Not only is he technically solid and immensely powerful but his decision-making bellies his age, making him the dream middle-order batter for any T20I side.
But his elite qualities would be up against the man who drowned the Gabba - Shamar Joseph. The West Indian pacer has had the world on his feet since that win in Australia and his performances in the few appearances so far have been stellar.
He made his debut in T20Is in the series in May between these teams and took three wickets in as many games. Although it has often seemed like sky is the limit for him, it's hard to forget his single appearance for Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2024. It started with the promise of pace but ended with a spell of 0/47 and a snub from the next game.
Stubbs would know that and want to put early pressure on him -- in a different way than his solid play in the Test series. But as we have seen from Shamar, he knows how to make things happen against all odds. Early prediction: expect a couple of viral videos on social media about them going after each other.
