A stern test awaits Team India when the Men in Blue walk out to face South Africa in Perth on Sunday (October 30). The T20 World Cup Group 2's Super-12 clash will pin India's destructive batting line-up against South Africa's lethal pace attack.
The match in all likelihood will decide the Group 2 topper and India's probable semi-final venue. The WACA has been the traditional venue for many decades but now the newly-built concrete jungle called Optus Stadium hosts the international games.
Rain has so far caused a handful of World Cup games to be called off. The venue of the India vs. South Africa game is Optus Stadium in Perth. Off late, there have grey skies with periodic rains. Even yesterday, the weather was overcast, gloomy and dull. Having said that, the weather for Sunday is promising. Currently, Perth is enjoying bright sunshine and it's expected to remain like that until 1 PM Local Time. A brief spell of rain is expected at 1 PM Local time but it is most likely going to be a passing shower.
The first game is at 3 PM Local time between Pakistan and Netherlands. Rain is likely to stay away from that contest and from the India vs South Africa fixture which is scheduled to be held after the completion of the first game.
Perth has one of the fastest surfaces in the world, which offers dependable support for the pacers. This is a great pitch to bat as well. The batters will be able to play and time their shots here due to the true bounce on this track. The Optus stadium might not have the same venom and bite as was the case in the old WACA stadium, but still expect bowlers to impose their will on the batters.
India's squad for T20 WC: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Hooda.
South Africa's squad for T20 WC: Temba Bavuma (captain), Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Rilee Rossouw, Tristan Stubbs, Kagiso Rabada, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Marco Jansen, Anrich Nortje, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Lungi Ngidi.
