India pace all-rounder Shardul Thakur remains doubtful for the second Test match against South Africa while pacers Mukesh Kumar and Avesh Khan wait on the bench and might get a chance at Newlands, Cape Town.
India will be looking to a positive start to New Year 2024 when they take on South Africa in the second Test match at Newlands, Cape Town starting on January 3. South Africa showed their superiority at home with a dominant win in Centurions and remain favourites to secure the series in Cape Town.
Rohit Sharma-led Indian side suffered an embarrassing defeat by innings and 32 runs in the first match. The veteran Dean Elgar smashed 185 runs in the first innings in the last match and now is also named captain to lead the team in his farewell match.
For India, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli showed some resistance against the Proteas’ impressive bowling attack in Centurion and the management is unlikely to tinker with the batting lineup for the second match. In bowling, the premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah took four wickets in the first innings but the rest struggled at SuperSport Park.
India are likely to make some changes to their playing eleven for the Cape Town Test to salvage a series draw. There is no official update on Ravindra Jadeja’s availability but the veteran spin all-rounder is expected to be fit after missing the first match due to a back spasm.
Cape Town’s pitch hugely supports pace bowlers so Rohit might stick with four pacers and one spinner combination. Ravichandran Ashwin, the current ICC world no.1 Test bowler, might get replaced by Jadeja if the latter recovers on time but the chances of both spinners playing together are very slim.
Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj also struggled in Centurion with the former enduring a poor Test debut with just one wicket. Shardul suffered a shoulder blow in a net session after the Centurion Test but was spotted batting in the latest practice session on Monday.
Shardul is likely to keep his place, given he is fully fit, but either Avesh Khan or Mukesh Kumar might get a chance to impress in the place of Prasidh. Mukesh played his only Test against West Indies in July last year and is likely to get preferred over uncapped Avesh for the Cape Town Test.
India Test Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Avesh Khan
India Predicted Playing XI for 2nd Test: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah.
