India vs South Africa 4th T20I abandoned due to excessive fog, Shubman Gill ruled out of series

Thank you so much for following our coverage of the India-South Africa T20I. There was no cricket action to talk about but still plenty of updates to provide you all. We hope we get some cricketing action when the team square off in the final T20I in Dharamsala. Until then stay tuned to Financial Express for the latest news from India and around the world. It's a good night for now!

No batters, no bowlers- who stole the show? The Lucknow weather. What drama! We were here for a game of cricket but in the end it was a waiting game for the fog to subside, for the weather to get better but it never did. Not a single ball was bowled.

India vs South Africa 4th T20I has been abandoned due to excessive fog in Lucknow. Won't be an understatement to call it "smog". The visibility was poor with Air Quality Index constantly in the "Hazardous" category.

The umpires will have a decision when they assess the conditions at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow in a few minutes from now. Truth be told conditions not looking very positive for a game of cricket.

Would you believe it? We still don't have a decision. The umpires feel they can have another look at whether the conditions are good enough for play at 09:25 pm.

The umpires are out for a fifth round inspection. Will they finally take a call to go ahead with or abandon the match? We shall find out in just a bit.

No update on match timings yet. Umpires will have another look at the weather conditions at 9:00 pm.

The umpires out on the field for another round of inspection.

We don't have a start time yet. All we have is another inspection time. The next inspection is scheduled at 08:30 pm.

Amid the dense Lucknow fog, the umpires are having another look at the conditions and weather they are fit for play. Let's wait for an official confirmation.

The next inspection is at 08:00 pm (IST). The waiting game continues. Although it was expected to be a cool Lucknow evening for fans to enjoy some cricket fog has played a spoilsport.

Lucknow fog delays IND-SA 4th T20I: Right then! Those in different parts of India and the world who have only heard about the fog in North India and never actually experienced it, here's how it bad it can get. The Lucknow fog has actually delayed the start of an international cricket match.

Unfortunately, we don't have a play start time yet. The picture will only get clearer when the umpires are out for their second round of inspection at 07:30 pm (IST).

Reports from those at the ground suggest that it's difficult to even spot the stands at the opposite end, so thick is the fog. Does that mean we won't have a game at all? Robin Uthappa, part of the broadcast panel, feels the fog is only going to get worse as the night progresses.

We will have a delayed start to the match for sure. We still do not have a toss time. The umpires feel the conditions are still not fit enough for the start of the match. They will have a second round of inspection at 07:30 pm (IST).

India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav (capt.), Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (capt.), Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, George Linde/Keshav Maharaj/Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman

Now that Gill is not playing in this match, it would be interesting to see who comes in. Will they bring in Sanju Samson? We are still a few minutes away from the toss.

India will be without the services of Shubman Gill for this match. He is out due to a foot injury.

From what we are hearing, the toss of the India-South Africa 4th T20I was delayed due a thick layer of fog in Lucknow.

The toss is delayed. We are not sure of the reason.

India have not a T20I series to T20I series to SA since 2015. South Africa have already defeated India in India in the Test series earlier on this tour, can they come back to win the T20I series as well?

India's record in Lucknow will further boost their confidence. They have not dropped a single at this venue, winning all three of their previous T20Is at the Ekana Stadium.

Wherever and whenever India play, they carry with them the weight of expectation. That may not be the case with South Africa though. India have done well to not let that pressure get to them in recent ICC events and would want to continue the trend in coming matches.

What's the weather like in Lucknow this evening? The temperatures are expected to hover in the range of 11 to 16 degree Celsius during the match hours. We are inching closer to the toss which is in about 20 minutes from now.

So until and unless we see Jasprit Bumrah returning to the side, India are unlikely to make a change to their Playing XI.

India's likely Playing XI for 4th T20I assuming Bumrah doesn't return

Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy

Jasprit Bumrah missed the last match due to personal reasons. Although Shivam Dube said that Bumrah was "available" for the game, he wasn't sure about his participation in the match. We might have to wait for the toss for an official confirmation.

Arshdeep Singh enjoys a great record against Quinton de Kock. The left-arm pacer has got rid of the left-handed opener five times in 56 balls in all T20 cricket. She has conceded 66 runs.

The Indian T20I captain hasn't scored a half-century since October last year. In 21 innings since then, he has scored 239 runs at a strike rate of 119.5.

India and South Africa have faced each other a total of 34 times in T20Is. The Men in Blue hold the edge with 20 wins. The Proteas have emerged victorious 13 times while a solitary match has ended without a result.