After the 1st game was washed out in Durban both teams will meet again today in St. George’s Park, Gqeberha. Both teams will look to start their campaigns with a win. Both teams now only have 5 T20i’s remaining before the 2024 T20 World Cup. With the IPL auction around the corner South African players have one last chance to impress the franchise owners.
Talking about the venue St. George’s Park has hosted only 2 T20Is so far and with some rain forecast the team who wins the toss will surely look to bowl first.
Looking at the team combinations –
Team India will try and fix their combinations in these 5 games. With uncertainty over the future of Virat and Rohit in T20, Yashashvi Jaiswal becomes the front-runner for the opening slot. Jaiswal has proved to be the aggressor which Indian team was looking at the top of the order. He will like to play the same way he did against the Aussies. Gill returns to the squad and it is expected that Rituraj will make way for him. It will be interesting to see whether the team will stick with Shreyas Iyer or go with a lefty option Kishan. Both players will need to perform constantly to have their name on the no. 3 spot. SKY who is undoubtedly the best T20 player right now will bat at no.4. Rinku and Jitesh will probably continue the same role of no. 5 & and 6 both have shown good intent in their role. With Jadeja coming back he will be the first-choice All–rounder ahead of Axar. Bishnoi will be the player to watch out for in the series as his quick googlies can trouble the African batters. India could well go with 3 quicks Siraj, Arshdeep, and Mukesh as the pitch might favour them a bit.
Talking about the hosts South Africa –
Bavuma has been dropped from the White ball side so Markram will lead the side. Heeza Hendricks and Matthew Breetzke will be opening the Inning and would like to fill the shoes of Quinton. Markram, Stubbs, Klassen, and Miller will be seen playing in the middle order and surely will be a tough role for the role Indian bowlers to get past them. Marco Jansen will his ability with Bat and ball will surely fill the all-rounder spot. The Proteas might go with the combination of Shamsi, and Maharaj as their main spinners and Coetzee and Burger as fast-bowling options. That will make their bowling combination very flexible and Markram also being an Off–Spin option.
Currently, the odds are in favor of India but a lot will depend on the toss team batting second will have a fair advantage as always. Both teams look equally balanced on paper but with many Indian players touring for the first time to South Africa the lack of experience might give the hosts an upper edge in the competition.
Indian squad for 2nd T20 match: Probable playing XI
Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill/Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar/Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav/Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.
South African squad for 2nd T20 match: Probable playing XI
Aiden Markam (capt), Reeza Hendricks, Matthew Breetzke, Tristan Stubbs/Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen/Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Gerald Coetzee, Nandre Burger, Tabraiz Shamsi
