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SA vs IND | Unchanged India bat first, Magala replaces Jansen

The hosts made one change from the XI that played in the first ODI at the same venue, with Sisanda Magala coming in for Marco Jansen.

India

Bengaluru, January 21: An unchanged India are taking first use of the wicket after winning the toss in the second One-day International against South Africa at the Boland Park in Paarl on Friday (January 21).

The hosts made one change from the XI that played in the first ODI at the same venue, with Sisanda Magala coming in for Marco Jansen.

India, who lost the first ODI by 31 runs, need to to stay alive against the Proteas in the second of three-match series.

The series concludes at Newlands, Cape Town, on Sunday (January 23).

Stand-in-skipper KL Rahul will have to show drastically improved leadership acumen when he leads the Men in Blue against a buoyant South African side, with not only the the three-match series, his long-term Test captaincy ambitions also at stake.

Rahul was at best mediocre in terms of on-your-feet-thinking, something that is the basic to art of captaincy, and also did not look the part with the bat in a heart-losing defeat in the opening ODI where India were outplayed for the better part of the game.

The middle-order, which had been a problem since Virat Kohli's heady days as captain, is still sticking out like a sore thumb and no one knows what exactly the solution is.

Once again, it was a case of one opener-Shikhar Dhawan on this occasion-and the indomitable Kohli holding fort before the middle-order caved in on a slower pitch where there was turn and the ball gripped, making a run-of-the-mill seamer Andile Phehlukwayo look formidable.

South Africa crushed India both strategically as well as on skills and therein lay serious questions about Rahul's wares as captain.

Having won the toss and opted to bat first, the onus is on the Karnataka star to take the things forward.

Playing XIs:

India: 1 KL Rahul (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Venkatesh Iyer, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Janneman Malan, 3 Temba Bavuma (capt), 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Rassie van der Dussen, 6 David Miller, 7 Andile Phehlulwayo, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Sisanda Magala, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi

Story first published: Friday, January 21, 2022, 14:04 [IST]
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