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Centurion, February 20: A ruthless India has only complacency to guard against while a deflated South Africa would be fighting another battle of survival when they clash in the series-deciding second Twenty20 International, here on Wednesday (February 21).
India won the first T20I at Johannesburg by 28 runs and a victory here will see them wrap up another series win on this tour after their 5-1 triumph in the ODI series.
A prospective 3-0 series win will also help India climb up the ICC T20I rankings and take up second spot behind Pakistan. However, if Australia beat New Zealand in the T20 tri-series' final (on Wednesday), India will stay on in their current third position.
Kohli's fitness
Word from the Indian camp is that Virat Kohli will be fit in time for the game. The skipper had hobbled off in Johannesburg with a left hip problem. The team management had deemed the issue as "nothing serious", and as such, he is expected to walk out at toss time here.
Kohli had suffered a slight knee issue while fielding in the first ODI at Durban as well, but he brushed it off to score a fine hundred thereafter. Even so, another injury scare only underlines his exhaustive workload.
If at all, India do need to consider his absence from this second match, then KL Rahul would come in as replacement.
Spin factor
The pitch at Supersport Park has played slow throughout this tour and the same is to be expected once more. In that light, India could once again opt for two spinners in the eleven, and 'chinaman' Kuldeep Yadav comes back into the reckoning.
Even left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who hasn't got a game on tour yet, could be considered given his ability to keep things tight.
Raina at No 3
The one surprising element for India was Suresh Raina's elevation to number three. If Kohli does play, will he repeat this ploy once again?
In Johannesburg, it was obvious that the team management had gauged conditions early and deemed 200 a par-score on that pitch.
Thus, their move to send Raina up and attack during the powerplay overs with Kohli held back to anchor the middle-order, allowing the returning left-hander a license to free shot-making.
To an extent, it does shore up India's only frailty in the lower middle order particularly as the team management continues to back MS Dhoni in the shortest format.
Teams (from): 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.
Match starts at: 9.30 pm IST
Live on: SONY TEN 1 & HD; SONY TEN 3 & HD
