India cricket team have made 2 changes to their playing XI for the IND vs SA 2nd Test in Guwahati. India will be without the services of captain Shubman Gill who has been ruled out of the contest after sustaining a neck injury in the 1st Test. The hosts will be hoping to bounce back at an unfamiliar surface in Guwahati after going by 30-runs in a 3-day contest in Kolkata. Pant will be India’s 38th Test captain and the only wicketkeeper to do so after MS Dhoni.
India playing XI for IND vs SA 2nd Test
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
On bench: Shubman Gill, Axar Patel, Akash Deep, Devdutt Padikkal
An unfit Gill has been replaced by Sudharsan in the line-up. The Tamil Nadu batter, who was benched in Kolkata, will resume his role as India’s number three batter which means Sundar will have to move back to batting down the order.
Gambhir and Gill had decided to experiment with Sundar at number 3 in the previous game. It did not exactly backfire as he emerged as the highest run-getter for India across two innings in Kolkata. However, Sundar was least used with the ball on a surface that aided spinners the most. Sudharsan’s return to the XI will perhaps allow Sundar to focus more on his bowling.
Nitish Kumar Reddy, who was added to India’s Test squad after Gill’s injury, will replace Axar in the playing XI. India have gone ahead with three spinnes and three pacers for the first-ever Test that will be hosted by Guwahati.
India squad for IND vs SA 2nd Test
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Devdutt Padikkal, Sai Sudharsan, Akash Deep
