IND vs SA, 2nd ODI: South Africa seek rapid response to halt India’s momentum

The intensity of the matches and the short space of time between games. In addition, travel time from the airport to the stadium will make it hard for the two teams to make sure they are well prepared for the next T20I match in Mohali, where they are both based.

The Blue Brigade will need to continue to develop after their strong win in Cuttack. The South African team will be happy to have a second chance to play again before having to address the mistakes they made in their opening match in Cuttack.

South Africa’s greatest concern will be the way in which they collapsed, as a batting unit, with only 74 runs on the board and not being able to chase down their target. Starting with Quinton de Kock getting out in the second over, caught at second slip off the bowling of Abhishek Sharma. Then, ending their innings with Lutho Sipamla edging off to be out, just shows how poorly South Africa batted on this occasion. They batted just 12.3 overs and lost all wickets for 74 runs.

The intent shown by their batsmen to play aggressively was misguided, as the conditions were very accommodating to bowlers with both spinners and pace bowlers. If South Africa is to present a tougher challenge to India’s well-wounded bowling attack, they are going to need to think more rationally about how they play.

South African bowlers managed to compete well, particularly early on in the innings for India, before the onslaught of Hardik Pandya (unbeaten 59 off just 28 deliveries), which changed the course of both the innings and of the match.

Captain Aiden Markram would be pleased with the performance of his opening bowlers, Lungi Ngidi (4-0-31-3) and Marco Jansen (4-0-23-0), although their death bowling, performed by Sipamla (4-0-38-2) and Anrich Nortje (4-0-41-0), could have caused the captain some concern.

Bringing in one or both of pacer Corbin Bosch and spinner George Linde could be something for the think-tank to look at, given their big-hitting capabilities will add depth to an already shaky batting order.

On the other hand, the Men in Blue will not be thinking about making changes to their impressive bowling attack. Their only dilemma before the opening fixture will be whether to select an additional pacer in Arshdeep Singh or go with the additional spinner in Kuldeep Yadav.

India previously achieved their best-ever score against South Africa in T20I when they fielded both fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh together for the first time on home soil. Each of India’s six bowlers took at least one wicket on that occasion. After such a superb performance, they have the opportunity to take on the visitors again.

India’s Batting Core Faces a Crucial Test Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026

For India to be successful in the batting department, they will need big innings from Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill. Suryakumar Yadav has not scored a half-century in international T20 matches since October 12, 2024. Shubman Gill has not scored any half-centuries in T20Is since July 13, 2024, and has not scored multiple sixes in a match since he hit an unbeaten 58 when playing against Zimbabwe in Harare.

Both players will have to improve their records in these nine games before India start their T20 World Cup title defence.

The date of the T20 World Cup 2026 is February 7, 2026, and this date is not far off.