After missing the ODI series opener in Ranchi, captain Temba Bavuma returned to action. Bavuma won the toss and opted to bowl first at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur. South Africa made three changes to the side. Alongside Bavuma, Keshav Maharaj and Lungi Ngidi returned to the playing eleven.
“We are gonna have a bowl. (On the pitch) It's very hard to say, to be honest. We're hoping that as the night comes in, the dew comes in, it gets a bit easier with the ball skidding more. But it's very hard to say what it's going to play like. A lot of positives (from the last game). We did very well to get the game to that point, looking at the way we started in our first 10 overs of our batting, it shows that belief is there. We've got three changes. Myself, Keshav Maharaj and Lungi Ngidi will be coming in. No changes in terms of the combination. Big game for us, chance to keep the series alive,” Bavuma said after winning the toss.
KL Rahul opted not to tinker with the winning combination. Ruturaj Gaikwad retained his place in the side while Rishabh Pant, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Dhruv Jurel and Tilak Varma continue to warm the bench.
“Honestly, that's the most pressure I've had because we haven't won a toss in a long time. I've been practising, but clearly it's not working. I think we did really well last game. A lot of positives from the last game, so just trying to continue that. And, come out here, play hard cricket again. They pushed us last game as well. We know what to expect. The boys are looking in good shape. And I'm excited about this game. Before the series as well, we spoke about it (dew). This is a time in India where there is a lot of dew. We're expecting dew in every place that we play. So, the bowlers have spoken about it. A few tactics and a few things that we've spoken about, which I think we did really well in the last game. So, that'll give our bowling team a lot of confidence. Just carry from there and keep getting better. If we put runs on board and pick up a few wickets early on, then it becomes a bit easier for us. The wicket looks good. The only reason any team opt to bat second is the dew factor and not much to do with the wicket. We're playing with the same team,” Rahul said at the coin toss.
India vs South Africa 2nd ODI Playing XIs -
South Africa: Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Matthew Breetzke, Tony de Zorzi, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi.
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul(c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna.