Team India will be brimming with confidence after their emphatic eight-wicket victory over Proteas in the first T20I of the three-match series. On Sunday (October 2) Team India will look to seal the series by winning the second tie of the series back to back.
But rain god might play a spoilsport in the second T20 between India and South Africa given the overcast sky at the at Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati. The lingering doubt has left the fans and the organisers anxious, bringing back memories of the last International cricket match at the venue that had to be abandoned after heavy rain.
But unaffected by the possibility, the enthusiasm among the fans didn't dip, with all tickets being all sold out for the first international cricket game since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The last international fixture at Barsapara Stadium was an India-Sri Lanka T20I match on January 5, 2020, which was called off due to persistent rain.
At a pre-match media interaction, India head coach Rahul Dravid said it's great to see fans back in the stadium.
"Since June, when things opened up, every time we play in India, every stadium has been packed. That's a great thing. I am sure the boys really appreciate the fans cheering for them, hopefully supporting good cricket. I think it's a wicket that would support good cricket,” Dravid said.
The regional meteorological centre has forecast a partly cloudy sky with one or two spells of rain or thundershower for Guwahati on Sunday.
The organisers, meanwhile, said they have put in place all arrangements to minimise time loss in the event of rain.
The Assam Cricket Association (ACA) has imported two “extremely lightweight” pitch covers from the US. It already has around 20 covers at its disposal.
“These imported covers ensure that water or moisture does not seep into the pitch,” ACA secretary Devajit Saikia had said.
The stadium can accommodate around 39,000 people.
Saikia also said additional measures are being planned for crowd management as the match schedule coincides with the Durga Puja days and Gandhi Jayanti.
Earlier in the day, Indian cricketers Axar Patel and Umesh Yadav visited the famous Kamakhya Temple atop the Nilachal hill.
They were escorted to the ‘Shaktipeeth’ under high security cover, officials said.
Both posed for photographs with fans before returning to the hotel.
Riding on Suryakumar Yadav's brilliant 33-ball fifty and Arshdeep Singh's match-winning spell of 3/32, India clinched the first match. However India have dealt with a huge blow ahead of the second T20I against South Africa as their pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20I series due to injury. Meanwhile, another star pacer Mohammad Siraj has been called as Bumrah's replacement.
India's squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Umesh Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Shahbaz Ahmed and Mohammad Siraj.
South Africa's squad: Temba Bavuma (Captain), Quinton de Kock (wk), Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs.
