India host South Africa for a five-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series, starting on Thursday. The first match of the series will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Both teams have been sweating it out in preparations for the first game. But some players are feeling the heat in Delhi with the mercury breaching the 45-degree Celsius mark in six localities in the city on Monday. South African spinner Tabraiz Shamsi tweeted in respect to the temperature in Delhi, joking it’s “Just a cool 42 degrees outside ..not hot at all lol”.

Just a cool 42 degrees outside

..not hot at all lol #Delhi #India

— Tabraiz Shamsi (@shamsi90) June 6, 2022

Replying to Shamsi’s tweet, Mazher Arshad, a cricket statistician as per his Twitter bio, said that it was 43 degrees in Lahore, to which the South African cricketer wrote: “How do people survive in this heat”.

How do people survive in this heat

— Tabraiz Shamsi (@shamsi90) June 6, 2022

India will be without batting stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the T20I series against South Africa. Both have been rested, with KL Rahul given the responsibility of leading the team.

The hosts will also be without star pacer Jasprit Bumrah. Youngsters such as Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, who impressed in the recently-concluded IPL have been included in the squad for the series.

Promoted

Veteran wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik has also made his way back into the squad on the back of some strong performances for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL.

The Proteas had arrived in the national capital on June 2 and the side has been preparing since then. The Indian contingent was on a break after the intense Indian Premier League (IPL), and the side assembled in Delhi on Sunday and the squad finally began training on Monday.