After the Dharamsala T20I getting washed out due to rain, India and South Africa kickstart the series in the second T20I scheduled to be taking place in Mohali on Wednesday. Although India can be termed as favorites for this game, the nature of pitch on offer can make the contest equal for the Proteas, who has a lot of firepower in their batting unit.
Both teams look to build towards the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 with a couple of positions yet to be finalized. India welcome back Hardik Pandya to the squad as he rested after the World Cup 2019 which will boost their chances of winning. South Africa should remember that they haven’t lost to India in India in T20Is but will take some doing to keep the record intact.
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Scores of over 170 can be termed as par in Mohali with the pacers expected to play a major role here. The pitch doesn’t bear the look of a typical Indian one with extra bounce also on offer. The relative longer boundaries will see the batsmen running between the wickets quite often. The weather shouldn’t be a problem with a good game of cricket in the store. Here are some of the predictions for the game:
India
India has preferred depth in batting which has led to Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav’s exclusion for this series. With the returns of Hardik Pandya, the Indian line-up gets fired up which already includes Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. In spite of a poor showing against West Indies, Shikhar Dhawan is expected to open alongside Rohit with Rishabh Pant/ Shreyas Iyer expected to bat at number four as the latter did phenomenally well in the ODIs against West Indies with Hardik and Krunal Pandya following him. While Khaleel Ahmed is certain to play in this match, Deepak Chahar’s sensational performance in the third T20 against WI should give him the nod over Navdeep Saini.
Predicted XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (C), Rishabh Pant(WK), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja/Rahul Chahar, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, and Khaleel Ahmed
South Africa
South Africa will bank on the experience of Quinton de Kock, who was part of the IPL 2019 winning roster of Mumbai Indians. He will open the batting with Reeza Hendricks while Rassie van der Dussen occupies a top-order role as well.
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David Miller can be lethal in the death overs and could be given a promotion to number four with the likes of Temba Bavuma and Dwaine Pretorius batting in the middle overs. Allrounders, Andile Phehlukwayo, and George Linde will provide the much-needed balance in the side with Bjorn Fortuin being one to watch out for in the powerplay overs. Kagiso Rabada will play a crucial role for the South Africans with Nortje and Beuran Hendricks complimenting him.
Predicted XI: Quinton de Kock (C&WK), Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Dwaine Pretorius, George Linde, Andile Phehlukwayo, Bjorn Fortuin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, and Beuran Hendricks
Fantasy XI Prediction:
Fantasy Suggestion #1: Rishabh Pant, Rassie van der Dussen, Reeza Hendricks, Rohit Sharma (c), Shreyas Iyer, Andile Phehlukwayo (vc), Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Bjorn Fortuin, Deepak Chahar and Kagiso Rabada.
