Brimming with confidence after first match victory, Team India lock horns with South Africa as Temba Bavuma-led side won the toss and opted to bowl first at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday (October 2).
India made no changed to their side while South Africa brought Lungi Ngidi for Tabraiz Shamsi in their playing XI.
“Yes (Would have fielded as well). Just want to come out, play some good cricket and entertain the crowd. We have never beaten these guys here and it's gonna take a lot of effort from everyone to do that and we have come out prepared and pretty much ready for the game. Not too sure how the conditions will be. When I touched the pitch there was some stickiness and we gotta be a little cautious at the start. We got solid batting line-up and it will be a challenge upfront. We are playing the same team,” India skipper Rohit Sharma said after losing the toss.
“We are gonna bowl first, manage our energies really well. This one looks like a different pitch. We want to do the job with the ball and then the batters to finish it off. We had a few positives from the first game. Just one change. Ngidi comes in for Shamsi,” South Africa captain Bavuma said before the match.
India dealt with a huge blow couple of days back when a serious back stress fracture ruled Bumrah out of the remainder of the three-match series and also put him in a spot of bother for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia. However, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav has been added to India's squad for the rest of the Proteas series but they won't be making up for team's pace spearhead in ICC's marquee tournament.
Pitch report
"Only the third T20I played here. There have been low scoring games here and average score is 145. There are a few cracks and the groundstaff have left a bit of grass as well. It looks very dry as well. Bowling first would be an advnatage and might get easier for batting in the second innings," Ajit Agarkar and Murali Kartik analysed the Barsapara pitch.
India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, 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, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi.
