Following a harrowing 30 run defeat, Rishabh Pant led India aim for an equalizer as they take on Temba Bavuma’s South Africa in the second of the two-match Test series at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday.
South Africa won the first game at Eden gardens to register a 1-0 lead in the series, marking their first Test win on Indian soil in 15 years. The second Test match between India and South Africa in Guwahati will begin at 9:00 AM IST tomorrow (Saturday).
In upsetting news for the Indian camp, the Indian ODI skipper Shubman Gill has been officially ruled out of the final Test against the Proteas due to a persistent neck injury sustained in the first match. In his absence, Rishabh Pant will be taking up the mantle of team captain.
All eyes will once again be on the pitch after the three-day affair in Kolkata at Eden Gardens. Interestingly, tomorrow’s fixture will mark the first international test match to take place at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati. Hence how the pitch will behave is still a mystery. Apart from that, the other unknown is the combination that India and South Africa will play with in the game.
As for South Africa, Kagiso Rabada has been ruled out of the second Test too, marking a minor blow to their pace line-up. The Proteas are likely to continue on their previously acquired rhythm and bet on the form of Marco Jansen and Simon Harmer as they did in the previous game.
India vs South Africa 2nd Test: Predicted XIs
IND Predicted XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel/Nitish Reddy, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
SA predicted XI: Ryan Rickelton, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (c), Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch/Lungi Ngidi, Simon Harmer, Keshav Maharaj.
India vs South Africa 2nd Test: Squads
India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Axar Patel, Devdutt Padikkal, Akash Deep
South Africa Squad: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma(c), Tony de Zorzi, Dewald Brevis, Kyle Verreynne(w), Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Corbin Bosch, Senuran Muthusamy, Zubayr Hamza, Wiaan Mulder