Babar's return adds intrigue as South Africa, Pakistan eye early lead

South Africa have never played a T20I in Rawalpindi, and they are not alone. Of the 107 men's teams who have appeared at international level in the format, only Zimbabwe and New Zealand - and of course Pakistan - have done so in Pindi.

Eight games have been staged there from November 2020. Two were washed out and Pakistan were victorious in four. All of the six completed games were won by the team who fielded first. They were all day/night or night matches - like the first game of Pakistan's series against South Africa in Pindi on Tuesday, which is scheduled to start at 8pm local time.

The highest first innings achieved there is the 193/5 Pakistan reached in April 2023. The highest total is the 194/4 New Zealand made in reply to win with four balls to spare.

Four days short of a year later, the Kiwis crashed to 90 all out at the same ground. Shaheen Shah Afridi took 3/13 and there were two wickets each for Mohammad Amir, Abrar Ahmed and Shadab Khan.

Of the batters who have taken guard 91 times in men's T20Is in Pindi, only one has scored a century - Mark Chapman, whose 104 not out in April 2023 flew off 57 balls. The ground has produced eight efforts from 51 to 98 not out scored at a collective strike rate of 161.73.

Bowlers have marked out a run-up there 78 times. They have gone for less than a run-a-ball in 15 instances. Usman Qadir's 4/13 against Zimbabwe in November 2020 is the best bowling performance in Pindi so far. There have been four instances of a bowler taking three wickets, but none of five.

Men's T20Is have been played on 240 grounds around the world. On just 68 of them do runs flow faster per over than Pindi's 8.18.

Away from all that cold, hard fact, how the Pakistanis react to having Babar Azam back in their T20I midst will be fascinating to watch. Babar hasn't played in their last 15 games in the format - his last outing was against South Africa in Centurion in December 2024.

Mike Hesson's assertion this week that Babar would likely bat at No. 3 only adds to the intrigue - he has opened in 87 of his 121 innings.

The South Africans will come to the ground in high spirits. This is where they won by eight wickets on Thursday to level the Test series. That was then, this is now - in an utterly different format - and of that XI only Tony de Zorzi and Dewald Brevis are in this squad.

But it won't hurt to come back to the scene of their triumph. Neither will Pakistan be unhappy to be at a ground where they know how to play T20Is. That's as close to a win-win situation that competitive sport can get.

When: October 27, 2025; 8pm Local Time (5pm SAT, 3pm GMT, 8.30am IST)

Where: Rawalpindi

What to expect: Clear skies, a willing pitch and a fast outfield. In short, perfect conditions for T20 cricket.

Team news:

Pakistan:

Babar Azam is back in the mix as a replacement for Fakhar Zaman. Mohammad Haris has been left out in favour of Usman Khan.

Possible XI:Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Salman Agha (capt), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Usman Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Faheem Ashraf, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed.

South Africa:

David Miller, who was to have captained South Africa in the series, has been ruled out with a strained hamstring. A pectoral muscle problem has taken Gerald Coetzee out of the equation. Miller and Coetzee have been replaced by Matthew Breetzke and Tony de Zorzi, who is uncapped in the format. The captaincy falls to Donovan Ferreira.

Possible XI:Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Quinton de Kock, Tony de Zorzi, Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Donovan Ferreira (capt), Corbin Bosch, George Linde, Ottneil Baartman, Nqaba Peter, Lungi Ngidi.

What they said:

"We've sent him back to first-class cricket after a conversation with him. He wanted to focus on improving his technique for one-day cricket, so we gave him a bit of a break from T20s. That's created an opportunity for another top order player." - Mike Hesson explains Fakhar Zaman's omission.

"In a three-match series, if you win the first one it puts you on a good footing going into the next two." - Donovan Ferreira does the math.