Having lost the first ODI against South Africa at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur, India will look to bounce back in the second ODI, which will be played in Indore on Wednesday.
We saw some fierce battles during the first ODI in Kanpur. Despite Rohit Sharma's outstanding innings of 150 runs, India had to lose that match by an agonisingly close margin. India will come hard at the visitors in the second ODI that will make things difficult for the upbeat Proteas.
Let us have a look at some of the key battles that one can expect to witness during the second ODI in Indore:
Rohit Sharma vs Dale Steyn: The Mumbai-born-lad has been in the form of his life. He is like an alchemist with the willow as whatever he touches turns into gold. Sharma is playing with so much ease that he is making good balls look bad. Can Steyn make things difficult for the Mumbai Indians captain? One can be rest assured that the no.1 speedster in the world has been working on Sharma's weaknesses. We will have to wait and watch for this battle until Wednesday afternoon.
Virat Kohli vs Kagiso Rabada: Kohli has not been in the finest of shape off late as in the last two matches he struggled to middle the ball. Rabada on the other hand, has bowled fast and straight, which troubled the Indian batsmen during this tour. Kohli is a seasoned batsman and also one of the best in business. It will take him just an innings to get back to that devastating mood but he will have to watch out for this young Proteas seamer who won them the first ODI.
Ab de Villiers vs Harbhajan Singh: Mr. 360 degrees played an outstanding innings in the first ODI in Kanpur. The South African skipper will be looking forward to play a similar innings in Indore as well. Initially, when he was facing Ashwin in the first ODI, it was quite clear that he was uncomfortable. But as soon as Ashwin was withdrawn from the field, he burst open. Will Harbhajan Singh be able to restrict De Villiers just like Ashwin did? Well, this is going to be a classic encounter.
Imran Tahir vs Suresh Raina: The South African leggie relishes to bowl the flippers to the left-handed batsmen. Meanwhile, Raina loves to take on the leg-spinners. One has the knack of picking up wickets at regular intervals and the other can hit the ball quite a distance. A contest worth watching!
JP Duminy vs Amit Mishra: Duminy has also been in terrific form right from the start of this marathon series. The fans have already witnessed some clean hitting from the classy left-hander. But it will be interesting to see how he tackles the leg spin of Amit Mishra, who was the pick of the bowlers for India in the first ODI.
