This is the season to test yourself. With the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup around the corner, the Indian team wants to take challenges head-on to be best prepared for the mega event.

Defend totals when dew hinders the bowlers, tinker with the batting order — all roadblocks, some created by design and others by happenstance, are welcome.

In the third T20I against South Africa in Dharamshala on Sunday (December 14, 2025), the home team can add another examination – seriously chilly weather – to the list.

The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium, situated at an elevation of nearly 1,500 metres, provides the battlefield.

Temperatures in this night game are likely to drop to single-digit figures, ensuring that players and spectators are well layered up. This is the first international fixture to be held at this venue in the month of December since India faced Sri Lanka in a 2017 ODI. That encounter, incidentally, was completed well before the sun set and temperatures dropped, as Sri Lanka chased down the target in quick time.

Tilak Verma, raised in a sunnier Hyderabad setting, is ready to tough it out. “There are no excuses at this level. It’s all about how mentally tough you are,” Tilak said in the pre-match press conference in Dharamshala on Saturday (December 13, 2025).

The 23-year-old batter added that with the five-match series tied at 1-1, there is no room to dwell on anything apart from recording a win.

Shubman Gill faces a big test of his own, having struggled for runs in recent times. Gill had a long stint in the nets on Saturday (December 13, 2025), taking inputs from batting coach Shitanshu Kotak along the way. While it is perhaps too early to doubt his spot in the eleven, a big knock on Sunday (December 14, 2025) will set his mind at ease.

India captain Suryakumar Yadav, whose last T20I fifty came way back in October last year, is the biggest form concern. A prolific short-format stroke-maker, it is imperative for Suryakumar to use these remaining outings to get into the groove ahead of the World Cup.

On what should be a night full of runs, South Africa will look to repeat the template that proved successful in the previous encounter at New Chandigarh. A rampant de Kock at the top of the order, followed by Donovan Ferreira’s explosive finish at the death, could once again prove to be too much to handle for India.

The teams (from): India: Suryakumar Yadav (Capt.), Shubman Gill (Vice-capt.), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Sanju Samson, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, and Washington Sundar.

South Africa: Aiden Markram (Capt.), Ottneil Baartman, Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Quinton de Kock, Tony de Zorzi, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, George Linde, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, and Tristan Stubbs.

(Match starts at 7 p.m.)

Published – December 13, 2025 07:34 pm IST

Tilak Varma hit a 34-ball 62 during the 2nd T20I Match against South Africa at the PCA Stadium in New Chandigarh on December 11, 2025.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy