Confident Proteas looking to secure famous series win in Guwahati
India v South Africa | 2nd Test | Saturday, 22 Nov – Wednesday 26 Nov | Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati | 5:30am
This is the second Test of a two Test series. South Africa are currently 1-0 ahead, which means India need to win to avoid a series defeat. South Africa need a win or a draw to claim the series.
Even though they are the reigning World Test Champions, South Africa are only the third ranked Test side in the world. India are ranked fourth.
South Africa currently sit second on the WTC league table at 66.67 percent. India are fourth at 54.17 percent.
Temba Bavuma has yet to lose a game as skipper of South Africa. He has led the Proteas in 11 games, of which ten were victories and one was a draw.
Kagiso Rabada missed the first Test with injury, and it remains unclear if he will play in Guwahati. Lungi Ngidi has been called up to the squad as bowling cover.
Indian skipper Shubman Gill suffered back spasms while batting in India’s first innings of the first Test. He was forced to retire hurt and missed the rest of the game. India have yet to confirm if he will play in Guwahati, but it looks unlikely. Sai Sudharsan is expected to replace the skipper at number four, but the position could also go to Devdutt Padikkal.
If Gill cannot play, then the captaincy will be handed to Rishabh Pant.
Jasprit Bumrah may be the top ranked Test bowler in the world, but he is also something of a bad-luck charm for India whose win percentage is far lower when he plays than when he doesn’t. The stats suggest that of the 51 Tests Bumrah has played since his debut at Newlands in 2018, India have won 22 and lost 24. Meanwhile of the 28 India have played without him, they have won 20 and lost five. That means India win 71.42% of their Tests without him and only 43.13% when he is plays.
The Proteas have won four of the last five Tests against India. India have won one.
Venue: Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati
The Barsapara Stadium has hosted two ODIs and four T20Is. It has never hosted a Test.
South Africa have played at the venue once, a high-scoring T20I in 2022. The Proteas lost that game by 16 runs as they failed to chase down India’s score of 237/3 despite an undefeated 106 from David Miller.
Guwahati is in the far North-East of India which means that it gets light late and dark early. As a result, this is the first ever match where tea will be taken before lunch.
Weather:
The weather looks set to play its part in the Test, with no rain predicted for the duration of the game. It will be warm and humid throughout with a high temperature of 27 degrees on days four and five. There will be the hint of a breeze throughout and some cloud cover on day two and four.
Form (most recent game first):
India: L, W, W, W, D.
South Africa: W, W, L, W, W.
Key player:
India, Yashasvi Jaiswal: Opener Jaiswal is India’s highest ranked batsman in the series, coming in at seventh on the ICC rankings (he and Temba Bavuma, who is fifth, have swapped places since the first Test). Jaiswal, who averages 49.79 in Tests was underwhelming in Kolkata, dismissed twice by Marco Jansen for scores of 12 and 0. But with two centuries in his last ten innings he is not a long way from form, and he will be eager to contribute in Guwahati. His performances against South Africa, against whom he averages 10.33 from six innings, are nowhere near his usual high standards, something the Proteas will be very aware of.
South Africa, Simon Harmer: Harmer is a man in form with 21 wickets in his last three Tests. Harmer, an off spinner, is a specialist at bowling to lefthanders and the bonus for South Africa, and Harmer in particular, is that India is laden with lefties. In the Kolkata Test Harmer claimed eight wickets, six of which were lefties. In that game India had six left-handers in their line-up. If Shubman Gill (a right-hander) is unable to play he is likely to be replaced by Sudharsan or Padikkal, both of whom are lefties – Harmer will be hoping that is the case.
Verdict: South Africa
This is a tough one to call given the fact that Guwahati has no record at Test level. It is also unclear what sort of surface India will prepare, especially given how badly things backfired for them in Kolkata. Heading into the game the Proteas boast the highest ranked spinner of the two sides and the highest ranked batsman. India have the world’s best quick in their lineup but if South Africa can field Rabada and Jansen they are not far behind. With two Test wins in Asia in their last two outings, we are tipping a confident Proteas side to edge this.
