After thrashing South Africa in the first T20I in Cuttack, India will hope to keep up with the momentum in the second game of the five-match series at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on December 11. The series holds extreme importance to both teams as the T20 World Cup 2026 is just around the corner and both teams are eyeing to sort out their squad structure ahead of that.
For India, captain Suryakumar Yadav’s form is a major concern. The flamboyant India batter has struggled heavily in the shortest format and his position in the playing XI is now under the scanner. Even though he has done a commendable job as captain, his batting performance needs to improve immediately.
On the other hand, South Africa were bundled for 74 runs in the first T20I. Even though the dew played an active role, the Proteas failed to take advantage of the situation as Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel picked up two wickets each. South Africa needs to address their batting concerns ahead of the second T20I, or else the inform Indian bowlers will leave them dusted once again.
India’s batting wasn’t ideal as well. Hardik Pandya saved the day with an unbeaten 59-run knock off 28 balls. The team management would hope for more support from the top order, as they often define a T20I innings.
Mullanpur, New Chandigarh, pitch report
Mullanpur will host its first men’s international match on December 11. The surface will assist the batters, as was seen in the IPL. A high-scoring encounter is expected when the two prolific teams clash on Wednesday. Meanwhile, toss will play a major role as the dew will heavily affect the game in the second innings. In short, chasing will be the ideal thing to do as 230 runs could also be chased down if batted well.