India vs South Africa 2nd Test Match Prediction & Updates

SA won the innings by 32 runs in the first test match, who’s gonna win 2nd Test?

The much-awaited 2nd Test Match in the India tour of South Africa 2023-24 is happening from 2nd Jan 2024, Wednesday to 7th Jan 2024, Sunday.

Review of the First Test Match

The batting side of the South Africans was stronger. Dean Elgar stole the spotlight, scoring a massive (185) runs and Marco Jansen a of total (84) runs. The Indian batters could not perform well, except KL Rahul, who scored (101) runs. Swing and bounce were perfect for the SA pacers.

The Indian batting order was completely shattered by Kagiso Rabada and Nandre Burger, both of them took (5) and (3) wickets respectively. Whereas the Indian bowlers - Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj took (4) and (2) wickets respectively.

Newlands Pitch Report

The pitch has decent grass, renowned as a batting paradise. The grassy pitch offers more swing which becomes challenging for the batsmen. South Africa has a home advantage, the reason why Elgar, Bedingham, and Marco are performing exceptionally well.

New Comers in the Playing XI

The playing XI in the first Test Match had many players who lack experience of playing in South Africa like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Prasidh Krishna. In India’s last tour to South Africa, the team had experienced players in the team. Though India lost the series, but with few margins.

In the Indian team for the India tour of South Africa 2023-24, the team has only Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli, Kl Rahul, and Rohit Sharma, the rest of the players do not have the experience of playing in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries.

Keeping the experienced players in the Playing XI can get victory for the Indian team.

Rohit Sharma has a Critical Decision to Make!

Shubhman Gill is an opener batsman, but the player did not get to open in the first Test Match. Seems like a one-down position is challenging for him. Now the ball lies in Rohit’s court, if he can utilize Shubhman’s potential as an opening batsman, things might fall in India’s favor.

Jadeja & Mukesh are Likely to Return

Ravindra Jadeja is likely to return to the field and add power to the Indian batting. Mukesh, on the other hand, is rapidly advancing in his international career. His ability to move the ball in both directions, as well as his control, make him a more dangerous bowler than Prasidh.

Probable Playing XI

South Africa

Dean Elgar (c), Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Keegan Petersen, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi

India

Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (w), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar