India Predicted Playing XI: Will Gambhir-Suryakumar drop Arshdeep Singh at Punjab Kings’ home ground?

In Cuttack, India didn’t really display their highest level and yet managed to beat South Africa by a whopping 101 runs. You could point out the failures of the entire batting unit, that Jasprit Bumrah didn’t take a wicket in the powerplay, or maybe that Axar Patel didn’t bowl enough.

In truth, none of it mattered. The Indian team is operating at such a level that even average performances are enough to win. You could argue that India hasn’t played a perfect T20I game in a while, yet the Men in Blue are undefeated. The 2025 Asia Cup was Exhibit A.

This also means that one change here and one change there don’t actually change much. It’s not just the main playing XI that’s exceptional, but the backups are equally good. That also means that current management, captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir, haven’t hesitated in dropping players.

Arshdeep Singh to continue?

Arshdeep Singh, India’s highest wicket-taker in T20Is, played just 2 matches in the Asia Cup. Kuldeep Yadav was dropped in Cuttack. Sanju Samson hasn’t been able to retain his spot after getting demoted to the middle order. For any other team, all of them start, but for India, they get benched consistently to create the right balance.

The question is, will the playing XI change again in the India vs South Africa 2nd T20I? A lot of tweaks are made based on the pitch. In Cuttack, Kuldeep was dropped due to the surface helping spinners and the dew factor. If any changes are going to be made for the Mullanpur T20I, it’ll primarily be due to the pitch.

In the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, we saw Punjab Kings back their fast bowlers more than spinners. On multiple occasions, Yuzvendra Chahal didn’t even complete his quota of overs. That suggests bringing in Kuldeep may not be the right idea. That means Arshdeep, for whom Mullanpur is his IPL home, will continue, and India will field the same XI.

Samson in for Gill or Dube?

Shubman Gill has faced a lot of criticism. And rightly so. Since returning to the team in the Asia Cup, he hasn’t scored a half-century. It’s been 13 innings now. Shivam Dube doesn’t get to bat in every game, but his last half-century came in January. But the issue is, Samson still can’t get in.

One has to remember, Gill was named the T20I vice-captain in July 2024. You can’t drop your deputy just a few months before the 2026 T20 World Cup. Dube happens to be an all-rounder, someone who bowls pace. One may not rate his bowling, but he offers a unique set of skills. Something that Samson’s inclusion can’t cover up.

India Predicted Playing XI for 2nd South Africa T20I

Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah

Bench: Sanju Samson (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar

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