India vs South Africa 2nd T20I tip-off XI: Gill over Gaikwad, toss up between Kuldeep and Bishnoi, Chahar returns | Cricket News

With the first match washed out due to rain and weather forecast not looking promising for the second game, India will be looking to give the chance to their players, who will be certain starters for the T20I World Cup, scheduled to be held in the West Indies and the USA in June next year. In the current squad, only Shubman Gill, Suryakkumar Yadav, Rinku Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav and Arshdeep Singh are looking like a certainity for the next ICC big event.

Durban 🛫 Gqeberha 🛬#TeamIndia have arrived ahead of the 2nd T20I.#SAvIND pic.twitter.com/wjsP2vAq6U
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 11, 2023
For India now only five games are left in the build up to the T20 World Cup in June and the management has a very small window to try out players. Two in this series and three against Afghanan in January.
For South Africa, they too will be playing only five T20Is matches before naming their T20 World Cup squad. They who will play three matches in the West Indies ahead of the tournament.

Here are a few tip-off for the second match
Shubman Gill returns
Shubman Gill is all set to make his return to the T20I side if the weather gods permit. Which means, the in-form Ruturaj Gaikwad will have to make way. The 26-year-old was been in fine form in the recenltly-concluded T20I series in Australia, where he scored 213 runs, including a century and a fifty. But with Shubman coming back it is a no brainer that he will be given the nod.
Yashasvi Jasiwal pips Ruturaj because first he is a left-hander and second the youngster’s ability to take on the bowlers in the powerplay is second to none. It will give Gill to build his innings and this opening duo is set to open for India for a longer period of time once Rohit Sharma will retire.
Bishnoi or Kuldeep
Ravi Bishnoi had a dream December. He ended up being the leading wicket-taker in the homer T20I series against Australia and has rose to the top of ICC T20Is bowling rankings. He had claimed nine wickets in five games in that series at 18.22.
On the other hand, Kuldeep Yadav, who will be returning after the break will also love to get a match. The left-arm wr spinner has played seven T20Is in 2023, picking up eight wickets at an exceptional economy rate of 5.64. Six of those scalps came in the away series against the West Indies in July.
Both the wr spinners have different skillsets. Bishnoi bowls more googlies than legbreaks. Against Australia, he has bowled a fair amount of bowling the powerplay, and it paid off – both in terms of wickets and controlling runs. Meanwhile, Kuldeep is an art and he is shown that in the ODI World Cup that he can be a constant threat to the oppositions in the middle overs.
Deepak Chahar for Mukesh
Deepak Chahar, who missed the last T20I against South Africa due to Personal reasons. He will take the place of ever-improving Mukesh Kumar. Chahar, who is known for swinging the ball can be a real handy under the cloudy sky. Anothet facet, where Chahar pips Kumar is his ability with the bat. For someone, who bats at No 8, Chahar is more than useful and it gives cushion to the India’s batting line-up.
South Africa team news
Gerald Coetzee and Marco Jansen are available only for the second match before they are released to prepare for the Tests and it is likely that the South Africa will field a strong pace attack in the secons match.
Matthew Breetzke is set to open with Reeza Hendricks, who is expected to be given a long overdue run in both white-ball formats.
India vs South Africa predicted XI
India XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh
South Africa XI: Reeza Hendricks, Matthew Breetzke, Aiden Markam, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Gerald Coetzee, Nandre Burger, Tabraiz Shamsi