After relentless rain washed out the first T20I, we now head to St George's Park, Gqeberha, for the second 20-over cricket game in India's tour of South Africa. The threat of rain looms large over this match too, and it remains to be seen whether we will any action on the field on Tuesday, December 12, 2023. (2nd T20I Match Blog | 2nd T20I Scorecard | Streaming | Key Battles | Cricket News)
If we do get a full (or truncated) game, it would be interesting to see the team combination that the Indian think tank chooses to go with. The Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian T20I side is fresh from a 4-1 series triumph over Australia at home, and will be raring to replicate the feat in challenging South African conditions.
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The squad is not entirely the same as the one that played at home, with top-order talent Shubman Gill back in the fold, and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav also in the mix. The question in front of team management is: should they opt for a returning Gill, or persist with Ruturaj Gaikwad in the opening slot alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal. One of these three will ostensibly be left out of the playing XI, and it could well be Gaikwad.
Meanwhile, Ravi Bishnoi had a fabulous run against Australia, where he won the Player Of The Series award for his economical yet lethal spells. Though Kuldeep is in the squad and did well in the 50-over World Cup, it would be tough to dislodge Bishnoi after that performance at home, and we might well see just one spinner considering the prevalent seamer-friendly conditions in the Highveld.
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Frontline pacer Mohammed Siraj is expected to return and find a spot in the XI, alongside left-armer Arshdeep Singh. The availability of Deepak Chahar is still unknown, which is why we might see Mukesh Kumar being picked if Chahar is not fit.
As for South Africa, Matthew Breetzke will be Reeza Hendricks' opening partner, and either Tristan Stubbs or Heinrich Klaasen will be the wicket-keeper. Among the all-rounders, only two of Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen and Andile Phehlukwayo are expected to get a look in. There could be a debut for left-arm seamer Nandre Burger, with two experienced spinners in the form of Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi.
India's likely XI: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Suryakumar Yadav (captain), 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Jitesh Sharma (wicket-keeper), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Mukesh Kumar, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Arshdeep Singh
South Africa's likely XI: 1 Reeza Hendricks, 2 Matthew Breetzke, 3 Aiden Markam (captain), 4 Heinrich Klaasen (wicket-keeper), 5 David Miller, 6 Donovan Ferreira, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Gerald Coetzee, 10 Nandre Burger, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi
