India vs South Africa 2nd Test: KL Rahul departs after scoring half century; India in trouble at 116 for 5 wickets

The match is being held at ‘The Wanderers,’ India's lucky ground in South Africa as they look to create history by winning their first-ever test series in the country. For the home side, the 113-run defeat against the visitors will be the least of their concerns given the wave of internal tensions and allegations that have hunted the side, the last of which is the sudden retirement of charismatic wicket-keeper batter Quinton de Kock.

The visitors coming to the test after a brilliant first test victory will be encouraged by the fact that the chief architects behind the win were its pace attack rather than batting, its traditional powerhouse. While there have been rumbles about the recent change of guard in the top and rumblings about discontent in the way Virat Kohli was treated by the BCCI, they are unlikely to affect India whose only concern will be the form of Cheteshwar Pujara.

Also read: Kohli has been phenomenal despite all the noise, see him scoring big runs soon: Rahul Dravid

Another fact that will be encouraging the Indians will be the fact that ‘The Wanderers,’ has been one of the few strongholds of India outside its own boundaries. India has recorded two wins and three draws in their previous five tests at the venue. The tourists won on their last visit to The Wanderers in 2018, a gutsy performance on a difficult wicket which captain Virat Kohli believes paved the way for their recent success abroad, including in Australia and England.

If you are KL Rahul, you must think life is a roller-coaster.....

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) January 3, 2022

 

"It's a top start for us," Kohli said. "It's always a difficult place to play against South Africa. We got so much confidence out of Johannesburg last time. It's a ground we love playing at."

Playing XI: KL Rahul(c), Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

The situation is quite different for the Proteas, who will be staring at their first-ever series defeat at home against India. While skipper Dean Elgar declared that the defeat in the first test has not affected their confidence, nobody is buying it.

South Africa will be forced into at least one change, with wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock always set to miss the final two games of the series while on paternity leave. However, he then made his absence from the five-day format permanent after unexpectedly announcing his retirement following the first test loss.

Kyle Verreynne kept wicket in De Kock’s absence in the West Indies in June and is likely to get the nod again, though uncapped left-hander Ryan Rickelton has been in excellent form with the bat in domestic cricket.

The home side could select Duanne Olivier as a fifth seam option in the place of spinner Keshav Maharaj, who failed to take a wicket in the first test and did not bowl at all in India’s second innings.

However, the one silver lining for the hosts has been the form of their pacers, especially young left-arm seamer Marco Jansen, who took 5-124 on debut in the first test and grew into the game after a slow start.

Playing XI: Dean Elgar(c), Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Kyle Verreynne(w), Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Duanne Olivier, Lungi Ngidi

Venue: The Wanderers,

Timing: January 3 to 7. (Play starts at 10 am local time)

Matches: 21

South Africa wins: 10

India wins: 4

Draws: 7

Matches: 40

South Africa wins: 15

India wins: 15

Draws: 10

-with agency inputs