IND vs SA 2025: Why is Keshav Maharaj not playing in IND vs SA 2nd T20I?

India is set to lock horns with South Africa in the second T20I of the five-match series at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh on Thursday, December 11, 2025. The home team clinched the first T20I with a dominating 101-run win over the visitors. The night belonged to star all-rounder Hardik Pandya, whose quick 28-ball 59* pushed the team's total to 175/6. India's bowling attack then took over the South African batters, eventually bowling them out for 74 runs. For the second T20I, India once again left out Sanju Samson and stuck with the same team. Meanwhile, South Africa made three notable changes to their XI, including that of Keshav Maharaj.

Toss Update

Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to field first, noting that the pitch conditions looked good with a bit of expected dew later in the evening. Notably, Mullanpur is hosting its first-ever men's international game. On the other hand, South African skipper Aiden Markram said he would have also opted to bowl first had they won the toss. He stated the visitors need to put on runs and get the opposition under pressure.

Keshav Maharaj not in playing XI

South Africa made three changes to their XI from the one that played in Cuttack. It is worth noting that Reeza Hendricks, George Linde, and Ottneil Baartman came in for Keshav Maharaj, Tristan Stubbs, and Anrich Nortje. The South African skipper revealed that the changes took place not due to the pitch conditions, but becuse of the rotation point of view.

What did the captains say?

Suryakumar Yadav, India Captain

This has always been a wonderful ground. When we played here during franchise cricket, and recently saw a women’s game also happen here, it was wonderful. And the first men’s game, I heard, is happening here - international, so very excited for it. I’m sure the crowd are also excited. It’s really important for the boys to understand their responsibilities and see what the team demands in that situation. They batted perfectly looking at the situation. 175 on that wicket, was a little over par. The way we bowled, I think it was a lovely effort. The balance which he (Hardik Pandya) provides in the team is amazing. The way he batted, the way he keeps calm on the ground when he’s batting, when it’s a pressure situation. And the way he bowled also; I think that’s more important. His overs are also really important for the side. The way he carried himself throughout the game, it didn’t look like he was injured. We go with the same team.

Aiden Markram, South Africa Captain

We would have done the same. Looked a pretty good wicket to the eye. Not a lot of cricket being played international-wise, so we would have bowled first. But having said that, we can put it up on the board early and hopefully get them under some pressure. There are always lessons to take, but I don’t think you want to dive too deep into things. Make peace with the fact that we can have nights like that, and we unfortunately had that in the first game. But the opportunity is there for us tonight to get it right and make some strides. I think that’s where a lot of the focus is. I haven’t thought of that to be honest. I’m not too sure. We’ll get feedback after the first few balls are over and sort of plan it from there. But yeah, I’m hoping to get off to a good start, build some good partnerships tonight, and it gives us a good chance to put up a good total. Not because of the pitch, but just from a rotation point of view, we’ve got three changes: Stubbs, Maharaj and Nortje are out, Reeza, Linde and Baartman are in.

IND vs SA, 2nd T20I — Playing 11s

India

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

South Africa