Should Team India Make Any Changes In The 2nd T20I vs South Africa?

India's probable playing XI for the 2nd T20I vs South Africa which is set to be played at Cuttack today.

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Meeting after two months, the Indian team didn't have a memorable first game as they got thrashed by the visiting South African squad in the first T20I played at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla grounds. 

The Kotla pitch was good for batting and got better & better as the game progressed. Winning the toss in India is very important and South Africa won it in the first game and opted to bowl first and made the most of the batting conditions in the second innings. 

However, it's not like India batted poorly. They still posted 211 in the first inning but it was at best a par score. Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad added 57 runs for the first wicket in 6.1 overs - a decent start.  
What India made sure was to keep the scoring rate more than 10 an over throughout the innings. In the first 10 overs, India made 102/1 and in the second half, they scored 109/3. 

While the run rate was decent but India had to catch up on a lot of dry overs. There were nine overs in the inning where India scored 10 or less than 10 in the over and five of them were under six runs - that's a lot of catching up to do. 

So the question is: did India play the best batting lineup available? Yes. What was lacking was the execution part of the batters which was due to a) conditions and b) South Africa's well-planned bowling. 

We already talked about the conditions so let's move on to South Africa's bowling. India only faced five overs of spin and scored 43 runs off it while losing one wicket - 8.6 rpo which included six fours and four fours. Against pace, India hit eight sixes and 12 fours in 15 overs, scoring 138 runs - 9.2 rpo. South African pacers bowled eight overs that went below 10 runs. 

Ishan Kishan vs pace - 36 off 28 - 128.57 SR; Ruturaj Gaikwad - 23 off 15 - 153.33 SR; 13 off 17 - 76.47 SR; Rishabh Pant - 29 off 16 - 181.25 SR; Hardik Pandya - 31 off 12 - 258.33 SR 

So turns out that Shreyas not being able to score even a run-a-ball vs pace made quite a difference in what India posted and also kept delaying Dinesh Karthik's arrival, who is a terrific hitter of the pace. 

So should India drop Shreyas from the XI? They definitely can but who'll replace him? Going by the current form - Deepak Hooda. 

However, India is very likely to continue with the same batting lineup in the 2nd T20I since they still posted a par total and the obsession of playing Shreyas Iyer despite his consistent struggles against pace and very specifically hard length balls which the South African bowlers kept bowling. 

Coming to the bowling department, India did play the best available bowlers in the first T20I - Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, and Hardik Pandya. 

Look at the roles the first three names have: Bhuvneshwar - powerplay plus death, Avesh - all three phases, Harshal - second half. Hardik's role depends on the situation - he can bowl in both powerplay and the middle-over phase. 

Why Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh might not feature is because they perform either the same role that the above three do or are in a single phase. Umran is a perfect enforcer, meaning he's is the perfect bowler for the middle over phases but his lack of control is what the Indian management is working on until he gets that and bowls with the new ball, it'll be a gamble to play him. 

Arshdeep Singh is quite similar to what Bhuvneshwar Kumar is already doing - bowling the top-tail overs. Unless Bhuvneshwar sits out, it'll be difficult to get him in the XI. What Avesh offers is an all-phase option and that's why he played in the 1st game as well. 

The spinners - Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal - just like the South Africans, only bowled 6.1 overs in the game because conditions didn't offer them much. Axar completed his four overs due to his ability to bowl defensive lengths and even then he got smacked for 40 runs. Chahal is an aggressive option and when he got hit for 22 runs in his first two overs, there was no way he could have been brought back. 

The two spinners will still play and be in the same roles as defensive and aggressive bowlers. If the nature of the Cuttack pitch demands an extra spinner, only then India might consider playing one but in all likelihood, Chahal and Axar will be the two spinners. 

There is very little chance of India changing the playing XI but if they consider dropping anyone, it should be Shreyas due to his lack of range against pace. 

India Probable Playing XI vs South Africa for 2nd T20I - Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (c), Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan