Indian fast bolwers in the form of Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, along with all-rounder Gurkeerat Singh were among the three players who were released from the Indian Test side in the ongoing second Test of the three-match Test series against South Africa at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru in order to play for their respective state teams for the next round game of the ongoing Ranji Trophy tournament 2015-16. However, BCCI also reported that a couple of players from Karnataka’s Ranji team in the form of Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair would assist the Indian side as their reserve players during the second Test. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs South Africa 2nd Test at Bengaluru
Earlier, after handing out a 108-run thrashing in the first Test to the world No. 1 ranked Test team, South Africa, the Indian cricket team — led by their spinners — would aim to maintain similar performance in the second Test beginning Saturday. India currently leads the series 1-0 after an emphatic win in the first bout of the Gandhi-Mandela Series 2015, and are expected to continue making merry on pitches that will most probably be conducive for spin bowling. The pitch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru has favoured the batsmen traditionally, but it can be presumed that it will be somewhat similar to the one that was witnessed at Mohali for the firs Test.
The Indian cricket team produced a dominant show in the first Test, but there are areas of concern for both teams going further into this four-Test series. The form of their opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan is a concern to start with, as the left-hander bagged a pair at Mohali.