India eye series as South Africa look to bounce back

After a rampant opener in Kerala, the caravan will be shifting to Guwahati as India and South Africa are all set to battle out the second chapter of the contest with contrasting horizons for the taking.

The Men in Blue managed to secure a brilliant start to the series as their fast bowling duo of Arshdeep Singh and Deepak Chahar crippled the Proteas while Suryakumar Yadav conjured a reckoning half-century to steer the Indian ship clear across the line. The return of Mohammed Siraj can be another experimenting factor for the Men in Blue.

The South African unit will be famished for revenge as India stands on the brink of a series win. The hosts have never won a T20I series of more than one game against the Rainbow Nation in the shortest format of the game.

Despite all the glitz and glam, Team India will have to focus on their middle-overs bowling as the flow of wickets has dried up. Another persistent woe for the hosts will be their death bowling as the struggles extended to another contest where Arshdeep who seemed in prime touch initially went for 19 runs in the penultimate over.

With the T20 World cup in their sights, India will have to get these questions answered which would also help them by a proverbial mile in the ongoing series against the Proteas. The South Africans, on the contrary, were left shell-shocked by Indian supremacy. However, going by their recent form, it is needless to say that it was probably a one-off.

This is going to be an interesting contest as both sides will be eyeing their individual perspectives that span from lifting the silverware to equalling the series. Only time will tell, who will have the last laugh?

Head-to-head:

Matches played: 21

India: 12

South Africa: 8

Match Details:

India vs South Africa

Greenfield Stadium

28th September

7:00 PM

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj.

South Africa: Temba Bavuma (C), Quinton De Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Bjorn Fortuin, Marco Jansen, Andile Phehlukwayo