IND VS SA Test Series: India will be walking in to the second Test match trailing the series 1-0 after they lost the first Test against South Africa at the SuperSport Park, Centurion. The Rohit Sharma-led side had a disastrous outing in the batting department in the first Test as the Indian side faltered apart and lost by an innings and 32 runs. The bowling also wasn't on-song as despite the immensely impressive efforts from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj, Indian bowlers couldn't restrict the Proteas below 400 as other bowlers hardly did their bits in supporting the prime two bowlers of Indian cricket.
India are currently ranked sixth in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings after their defeat, and the table is being led by South Africa, followed by Australia. With the end of the series after the second Test match winds up, India will be through with their two series of their WTC cycle for 2023-25 and will have a mommoth task on their hands to better their position in the upcoming Test series in-order to stand a chance and make it to their third consecutive Final of the World Test Championship.
With Avesh Khan being called up, there are various speculations that the Indian side will see some changes, given their dismal show in every department in the first Test match. The second Test match of the India Vs South Africa series at the Newlands, Cape Town starting on Wednesday, January 3, will be a decider and the Rahul Dravid-coached side will have the following probable line-up on the paper:
- Rohit Sharma (c)
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Shubman Gill
- Virat Kohli
- KL Rahul (wk)
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Ravichandran Ashwin
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Avesh Khan
- Mohammad Siraj
- Mukesh Kumar
The harsh decision of benching Prasidh Krishna could be on the cards as Mukesh has international Test matches experience in his arsenal and would be preferred ahead of the Rajasthan Royals' fast bowler. Also, Shardul Thakur doesn't guarantee you a half-century or a special knock most of the times and his bowling has big questions to be answered. Therefore, the veteran and ever-consistent Ravindra Jadeja can step in and be handy with his arm balls even on a seamer-friendly track, and these changes will ultimately lead to Shreyas Iyer being benched as his lack of technical ability to last long on South African pitches will make him sit-out.