India vs South Africa playing XI tip off: Rajat Patidar to slot in for Shreyas Iyer, Sai Sudharsan to keep his spot as opener | Cricket News

Having battered South Africa in the opening ODI at Wanderers, Johannesburg, India will be eyeing to clinch the three-match series at St. George’s Oval in Port Elizabeth.
With the T20 series tied, the visitors would run through the Proteas batting lineup as Arshdeep Singh (5/37) and Avesh Khan (4/27) claimed all but one wicket. Only four of the 11 South African batters could cross the double figures as the hosts bundled out for 116.
India would chase it down with 33.2 overs to spare and eight wickets in hand. Here’s how they can line up in the second ODI:
Rajat Patidar to replace Shreyas Iyer
Even though Shreyas Iyer had been named the BCCI for all three matches of the ODI squad, on Saturday the Indian cricket board had stated in a press release that Iyer will join the Test squad following the first of three 50-overs game. The number four batter who scored a half century in Johannesburg on Sunday, will be playing the inter-squad game alongside the Test squad ahead of the first match in Centurion.
The most like for like replacement for Iyer is Rajat Patidar, who looks likely to make his debut in Port Elizabeth. With 1963 L A runs to his name, Patidar has been a regular number four batter for Madhya Pradesh.
Sai Sudharsan to keep his spot as an opener

Emotions of making his #TeamIndia debut ☺️That solid partnership with vice-captain @ShreyasIyer15 💪What it means to his family seeing him play international cricket 👏@sais_1509 shares it all in this post-match interaction 👌 👌 – @RajalArora #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/Rptsrt71Wi
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 18, 2023
In his India debut, Sai Sudharsan notched up a maiden ODI fifty. An innings that saw the southpaw lace nine boundaries off his unbeaten knock that lasted off 43 deliveries and helped India close the chase inside 16.2 overs.
India had fielded five left handed batters in their playing XI during the T20 series against Australia and South Africa. It would be interesting to see if the Indian think tank look to favor more southpaws in their ODI setup as well with the likes of Rinku Singh also in the fray. If so, Sudharsan seems to be a good pick given his recent displays in the domestic circuit.

Predicted playing XI
India: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar
South Africa: Reeza Hendricks, Tony de Zorzi, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram (c), Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, Tabraiz Shamsi