Team India will bat first in the second T20I after South African captain Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to field in Gqeberha on Tuesday, December 12. After the first game was washed out in Durban, the second T20I too was in danger of a delayed start after it started drizzling in Port Elizabeth but the rain stopped and the match started on time. The surprising news, however, for the Indians was the absence of opening batter Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was the leading run-getter in the five-match series against Australia.
The BCCI informed on X (formerly Twitter) that Gaikwad was ill and hence unavailable for the second T20I, which opened a spot at No.3 since returning Shubman Gill was going to open alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal. With Shreyas Iyer also being left out, Tilak Varma got his opportunity after missing the last two games against Australia.
Apart from these two, India made another change, this one in the bowling department with Kuldeep Yadav replacing Ravi Bishnoi, who was the player of the series winner against Australia. Mohammed Siraj replaced Avesh Khan in the pace department in the fourth change for India on Tuesday. Ravindra Jadeja was the fifth change as he replaced Axar Patel in the line-up.
A few members from the World Cup squad returned to the T20 side which meant the Indian team had to ring in changes for the game against South Africa. Earlier, Proteas skipper Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to field first citing overcast conditions as the wicket was under the covers overnight in Gqeberha and it rained before the game as well.
India's playing XI for the second T20I against South Africa: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar
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