Umesh in for Vihari
October 10, 2019 09:14
India captain Virat Kohli wins the toss and elects to bat first against South Africa in the 2nd Test in Pune on Thursday.
This is Kohli's 50th Test as Indian captain.
India bring in Umesh Yadav for Hanuma Vihari.
Win toss and bat first is what the experts suggested at the pitch report. The pitch is dry and will help the spinners. Day 1 it is going to help batsmen.
Virat Kohli's men ticked almost all the boxes during their 203-run win in the opening encounter in Visakhapatnam and they would like to maintain the same intensity in their bid to seal the series in Pune itself.
It was at this very ground that the Indian Test team endured its last batting collapse at home, against Australia in 2017 on a rank turner where off-spinner Nathan Lyon and Steve O'Keefe made lives miserable for the hosts.
Ashwin, with a match haul of eight wickets, and Jadeja, with his all-round solidity, give this team a menacing look in home conditions.
One can only hope that Shami remains niggle-free as he was seen hobbling on his run-up in the first innings in Visakhapatnam even though it became better in the second innings.
Ishant Sharma was also steady during both the innings without being spectacular.
Such was their impact that Jasprit Bumrah was hardly missed despite his phenomenal presence in red ball cricket over the last 18 months.
Rohit Sharma 2.0's blockbuster re-entry into Test arena as an opener with twin hundreds was a calculated punt, that worked wonderfully well first up for Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri.
With Mayank Agarwal also showing signs of making every chance count, as he did with his maiden double hundred in Visakhapatnam, India's opening woes at least (in home conditions) for the next four Tests (two vs Bangladesh next month) could be history for the time being.
The heavy duty batting line-up that also includes Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Hanuma Vihari would look to make a heftier contribution if the pitch at the Gahunje Stadium aids batsmen.
Playing XI:
India: R Sharma, M Agarwal, C Pujara, V Kohli, A Rahane, W Saha, R Ashwin, R Jadeja, I Sharma, U Yadav, M Shami
South Africa: A Markram, D Elgar, T de Bruyn, T Bavuma, F du Plessis, Q de Kock, S Muthusamy, V Philander, K Maharaj, K Rabada, A Nortje
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