CENTURION, Feb 20 (PTI): A ruthless India has only complacency to guard against while a deflated South Africa would be fighting another battle of survival when the two sides clash in the series-deciding second Twenty20 International on Wednesday.
The Men in Blue won the first T20I at Johannesburg by 28 runs.
Meanwhile, only last Tuesday, South Africa had faced a do-or-die moment in Port Elizabeth and now have their backs up against the wall for a second time in eight days.
The hosts had put their hopes in a basket full of new eggs. Yet, despite hitting the refresh button, they weren't able to muster the required challenge for a high-flying Indian team at the moment. AB de Villiers is now ruled out of this T20I series (with a left knee problem) as well but Cricket South Africa has not named a replacement.
The stand-in skipper was adamant that their plans at Wanderers "including the decision to bowl short to India's top-order in the powerplay overs" were sound enough, and just needed proper execution.
Squads: India: Virat Kohli (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur.
South Africa: JP Duminy (capt), Farhaan Behardien, Junior Dala, Reeza Hendricks, Christiaan Jonker, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Chris Morris, Dane Paterson, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Jon-Jon Smuts.
