IND vs SA 2nd Test: With history against them, India are facing South Africa in the second and final Test of their South African tour at Newlands, Cape Town. South Africa have won the toss and have opted to bat first. The Indian team has made a couple of key changes to their Playing XI for the must-win contest in their bid for levelling the series.
Ravindra Jadeja has been picked in place of Ravichandran Ashwin after missing out on the first game. Notably, Mukesh Kumar has come in place of Shardul Thakur, who is having an underwhelming run in Tests recently. Jadeja missed out on the first Test as he was having back spasms but trained ahead of the second match in Cape Town. Notably, Avesh Khan was added to the Test squad in place of Mohammed Shami after the completion of the opening Test.
"Would've batted first as well. Looks a good pitch. We understand the challenge of batting first on that pitch, but nevertheless, there will be enough in the pitch for the seamers, so hopefully we'll cash in on it. Important to forget what's happened in the past. We understand the importance of getting runs on the board and getting 20 wickets. Didn't happen in the first game but we're upbeat about what we can achieve here. Two changes. Jadeja comes back for Ashwin. Shardul misses out, Mukesh Kumar replaces him," Rohit said at the toss.
Notably, South Africa made three changes to their Playing XI from their team that faced the Men in Blue for the first Test. "Going to bat. Pitch looks interesting. We're in a great position. Can't win a two-match series if you don't win the first - we've crossed that hurdle. Scoreboard starts on nought. We all know that. Starting well is going to be key against this Indian side. Got a debutant in Tristan Stubbs coming in for Temba. Ngidi comes in for Coetzee who's also injured. And Maharaj comes in," Dean Elgar, playing his final Test, said at the toss.
It was expected that Jadeja will come into the Playing XI if he is fit. We asked our India TV readers for their opinions on "Should India drop R Ashwin if Ravindra Jadeja is fit for the second Test against South Africa?" The majority of the voters voted for 'yes', while some said 'no' and 'Can't say'. Out of 5575 votes, 57% of voters voted for yes, while 36.50% said no. 6.50% of voters selected Can't say.
India's Playing XI:
Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
South Africa's Playing XI:
Dean Elgar(c), Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne(w), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi
