India take on the South African juggernauts in what might be their toughest challenge in the 2022 T20 World Cup at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday, October 30. While the Men in Blue clinched the thriller against Pakistan last Sunday (October 23) and then beat the Netherlands by 56 runs, the South Africans secured a 104-run victory over Bangladesh after their first match against Zimbabwe.
Team India won the toss and skipper Rohit Sharma chose to bat first. After no changes in the first two matches, the Team India management have handed a World Cup debut to Deepak Hooda, in place of Axar Patel. Meanwhile, South Africa have decided to drop Tabraiz Shamsi for Lungi Ngidi.
When asked about his reasoning for batting first during the toss, Rohit said, "No particular reason. It's a good surface and we know what to expect here. It was a good prep but now it's game time. We want to come out here and do what we have been doing. Sometimes you can get carried away or your energy is low but you have to stay calm."
"Crucial game for us. We would have probably batted first because it might be a bit difficult to bat under lights. but now we have got to restrict them and pick up early wickets. We have the resources from the pace bowling point of view to exploit the conditions," South Africa captain Temba Bavuma quipped during the toss.
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh.
South Africa Playing XI: Quinton de Kock(w), Temba Bavuma(c), Rilee Rossouw, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje.
