IND vs SA 2nd ODI: Patidar or Rinku set for debut, India look to seal series

RCB star batsman Rajat Patidar will be in competition against Rinku Singh for the one batting position in the Indian squad as the team moves ahead for the second ODI match against South AfricaTeam India will allow one of these players as Shreyas Iyer has joined the Test team for the twomatch Test series against the hosts South AfricaAfter the exceptional show by the Indian pacers Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan in the first ODI KL wont think of dropping them ahead of the second clash The Indian skipper will aim to heal the scars of a 03 series loss back in 2002Also ReadIN PHOTOS Top 5 all rounder available at IPL Auction 2024The World wants to witness more impressive knocks by lefthander Rinku Singh He showed the temperament and ability to play on the South African wickets which has more bounce as compared to other countriesHowever the Indorebased righthander Patidar had made it to the Indian ODI team back in 2022 but in the past year had to struggle and underwent a heel surgery earlier this yearThe Indian team management has very specific roles for players and while Rinku is being looked upon as a finisher at No 6 the 30yearold Patidar is more of a specialist No 4 when he bats for his state team Madhya Pradesh Hence with Iyer a righthander vacating a slot in the playing XI his likeforlike replacement is PatidarAlso ReadIN PHOTOS IND vs SA 1st ODI Star performers for IndiaIn the case of Rinku the No6 slot currently has been given to Sanju Samson who is playing as a specialist batter behind skipper KL Rahul who is donning the big glovesAs has been the template of national team management they would like to give Samson who is senior to Rinku a fair go at that slot before turning to the southpawHowever Rinkus brilliant List A record near 50 average will force the team management to give him a go In fact both Rinku and Patidar could get a go but in that case Tilak Varma who got to face just a couple of deliveries in the opening game will have to be dropped from the playing eleven That doesnt seem very logical at the momentThe opening game witnessed the debut of young lefthanded opener B Sai Sudharsan whose silken halfcentury held a lot of promise going into the futureNot much change in bowling combinationThe bowling department will not need much tinkering after a nearperfect performance from Arshdeep and AveshMukesh Kumar whose 046 in 7 overs did stick out like a sore thumb would want to present an improved version of his bowling as he either went too full or at times bowled too short during the opening gameIn case the team management wants to experiment it can replace Mukesh with his Bengal teammate Akash Deep but that looks unlikely in the second game when the team is gunning for series gloryIn the spin department both Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav who have not been picked for Tests wouldnt like to miss out on international matches and it is unlikely that they would volunteer to rest which would allow Rahul to give Yuzvendra Chahal a chance to play the only format he has been selectedSquadsIndiaKL Rahul captain and wk Ruturaj Gaikwad B Sai Sudharsan Tilak Varma Rajat Patidar Sanju Samson Axar Patel Kuldeep Yadav Mukesh Kumar Arshdeep Singh Avesh Khan Rinku Singh Akash Deep Yuzvendra Chahal Washington SundarSouth AfricaAiden Markram captain Ottneil Bartman Nandre Burger Tony de Zorzi Reeza Hendricks Heinrich Klaasen Keshav Maharaj David Miller Mihlali Mpongwana Wiaan Mulder Andile Phehlukwayo Rassie van der Dussen Tabraiz Shamsi Lizaad Williams Kyle VerreynneMatch Starts 430 pm ISTWith PTI Inputs