Puri, Dec 9 (IANS) India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, along with head coach Gautam Gambhir and other members of the team and support staff, on Tuesday visited the Shri Jagannath Temple in Puri to seek blessings ahead of the opening T20I of the five-match series against South Africa.

Apart from captain Suryakumar Yadav, who was accompanied by his wife Devisha Shetty, and head coach Gambhir, batter Tilak Varma, fielding coach T. Dilip, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak and other members of the support staff were among those who joined the temple visit.

“It’s really wonderful that the team received god’s blessings. Team India will surely succeed. The team manager, the coach, the captain, and the other players seek blessings here," said Rabi Sankar Pratihari, secretary of the Puri District Athletic Association.

The members of the team and support staff entered the temple premises amid tight security arrangements as a large crowd of fans gathered to catch a glimpse of the players.

"Today, the captain, coach, and other members of Team India visited. We made all the necessary arrangements for them from our side. Based on their movement plan, we had alerted all the police stations along the route. Additional security was also deployed at the temple. A ring-round protection team was formed for them, as there are many fans who try to get close to the players," said Puri SP Prateek Geeta Singh.

The first T20I will be played on Tuesday at the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, marking the first T20I meeting between India and South Africa since the thrilling 2024 T20 World Cup final, where men in Blue secured a dramatic seven-run win.

The series against South Africa begins India’s final leg of preparations for their title defence in next year’s T20 World Cup. The likes of Suryakumar, Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Shivam Dube are coming into the series after having a productive time with their respective state teams in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

--IANS

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