India, Dec 03 : South Africa captain Temba Bavuma won the toss and chose to bowl first in the second ODI against India at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur on Wednesday. With India leading the three match series 1-0 after a thrilling 17-run victory in Ranchi, both teams are eager to make early inroads and gain a strategic advantage.
The Raipur pitch is expected to offer a balanced contest, with long boundaries ranging between 80 to 84 metres making timing crucial over power hitting. Seam movement early on and potential slowing of the pitch later add significance to South Africa’s decision to bowl, with evening dew possibly aiding the chasing side.
India Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul (w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna
South Africa Playing XI: Quinton de Kock (w), Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma (c), Matthew Breetzke, Tony de Zorzi, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi
India will rely on their top-order stars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to continue their form, while South Africa looks to exploit early conditions with a strengthened pace attack to keep the series alive and push it to a decider in the third ODI on Saturday.
The toss sets the stage for an intriguing contest, with India seeking a 2–0 series win and South Africa aiming for a strong response to stay in contention.