2nd T20I | IND VS SA | PREVIEW & PREDICTION

A dangerously damp and sticky wicket was the highlight of the first encounter where both sides failed to judge the pitch accurately. India, although, faired better but the result could have gone either way had India batted first without knowing a par total on that surface.

Bumrah's unavailability will mean the onus of death bowling will solely rest on Arshdeep and Harshal who are at opposite ends of the spectrum of form. Batting looks better than ever with top4 consistently clicking at healthy strike rate while Pant and Karthik haven't seen much of the middle.

Proteas have adjusted to Indian conditions quite well in the past and a little help at the toss should make way for a comeback tonight to save themselves from their maiden series defeat here in the shortest format. Rossouw will look to score runs today as another failure by him could see Hendricks back in the squad who has almost 300 runs in the 5 most recent innings.

Pitch & Conditions

With 90% chances of rain around 11pm there is a good possibility of D/L coming into play. There haven't been many games in Guwahati to draw a pattern on the nature of the pitch but Indian side felt it is a good wicket. Although, after the last match, it's safer to go with the small sample size which suggests bowlers will thrive.

Probable XIs

India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, R Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh

South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma, Riley Rossouw, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Tristian Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi

Head to Head

Overall: India lead 12-8
In India: South Africa leads 5-4
Rohit is the leading run-scorer (362)
Bhuvi is the leading wicket taker (15)

Match Ups (all T20s)

Rohit vs Nortje: 32 runs for 2 dismissals
Rohit vs Rabada: 70 runs for 3 dismissals
Kohli vs Rabada: 41 runs for 4 dismissals
Kohli vs Nortje: 15 off 19 for 2 dismissals
Rahul vs Rabada: 33 off 39 for 2 dismissals
Surya vs Rabada: 64 off 43 for 3 dismissals
de Kock vs Chahal: 54 off 44 for 6 dismissals
de Kock vs Axar: 89 off 59 for 2 dismissals

Key Players

Axar Patel
Tremendous current form. Should be one of the first picks with Surya in the fantasy XI.

Aiden Markram
Leading scorer in last 5 innings from both sides at SR 173.

Virat Kohli
Always a good bet if he didn't fire in the most recent inning.

Why No Miller/Shamsi?
Indian batters have had no problems scoring against Shamsi and is most likely to stay the same way.
Miller has blown hot and cold this year and has more misses against India than hits.

Recent Form (last 5 T20I innings)

-Ashwin is bowling great but isn't picking wickets.
-Surya & Markram have 13 sixes in last 5 outings

Fantasy XI

-Replace Rossouw with Nortje/Parnell if you wish to bowling heavy.
-Replace Rohit with Rahul if India bats 2nd.
-Change captain from Kohli to Harshal if India bats 1st.