 After loosing the first ODI by huge margin of 135 runs at Durban, India will look to bounce back in the second ODI to register their first win in ODI in 2011. Loss here at Johannesburg will only make their job difficult and Dhoni knows, they must win 2nd ODI to keep their hopes alive of winning the ODI series in South Africa.
Already plagued by injuries to key players, nothing seemed to have gone right for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men in Durban as both the batting and bowling left much to be desired. As we have seen with India they always struggle in the first game and then they made their comeback by performing far better and many of the fans will once again hope that there stars will sign at Johannesburg. India who already came to know that they will play the ODI series without the service of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir also jolted by the injury to pacer Praveen Kumar who could have done much better in these conditions. Pacer S.Sreesanth is also recovering from an elbow injury and the doubt is still over his fitness whether he will able to play the second ODI or not. Indian team always rely on their batting but the same strength was failed to perform when it matters and they folded like pack of cards at Durban, so Dhoni will be hoping that in Johannesburg there batsmen will show more aggression and intensity which was lacking in the previous game. The Indian lineup has a number of young but talented players such as Murali Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina but they have to fire when it matters most. Only Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina are performing well and other two have failed to perform on the field as per their reputation. Indian bowling has also lot of work to do; Ashish Nehra looked in all sort of problem in last ODI and gave away plenty of runs in the six overs he bowled. On the other hand, South Africa looked more settled squad apart despite of vulnerable middle order. Hashim Amla, AB Devilleirs and JP Duminy all got half-century in the previous game and they hope to continue their good show in the remaining matches in the absence of their prime player Jaques Kallis. Their bowling unit also looked more disciplined and pacy than the Indians. Watch out for M.Morkel: He is not a good swing bowler as Dale Styen but with his consistent line and length he can make any trouble any batsmen as we have seen in last game, with two wickets in one over, he setup the game for South Africa nicely. Yuvraj Singh: Now is the time or it will came never, he has failed to perform with the bat in last few matches and it is really a worry sign for Indian middle order. He is such an important member of the team that every people can only hope for the best at Johannesburg to lead India fight back in the series. Pitch and conditions The pitch at New Wanderers, Johannesburg will have less bounce than Durban wicket will assist fast bowler with lot of seam movement. With the overcast condition expected for the match day it will be tricky situation for team winning the toss. However team who wins the toss is most likely to bat first and put challenging total on the board. Team News M.Vijay performance with the bat in ODI is terrible, so we might see Yusuf Pathan replacing him in second ODI while Virat Kohli is likely to open the inning with Sachin Tendulkar. In the bowling department also Munaf Patel is likely to be replaced by S.Sreesanth. Other than that team will remain same. South Africa on the other hand will look forward to persist with same playing XI which mauled India in first ODI by huge 135 runs. Likely Playing XI for both teams (Match is schedule to begin at 18:00 PM India Time) India: S.Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, M.S.Dhoni (Captain & WK), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, S.Sreesanth. South Africa: G.Smith (Captain), Hashim Amla, Collin Ingram, AB Devilliers (WK), JP Duminy, David Miller, Johan Botha, Wayne Parnell, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, L.Tososobe. |
