Pakistan will face South Africa in the second of the two-match Test series. This article provides details about South Africa’s Playing 11 vs Pakistan for the second match of the series.
South Africa Playing XI vs Pakistan- 2nd Test, South Africa Tour of Pakistan 2025
Openers: Aiden Markram (c), Ryan Rickelton
South Africa will look to bounce back after suffering a defeat in the opening game of the two-match series against Pakistan when they take on them in the second Test scheduled to begin on Monday (October 20).
The Proteas will be elated by the return of experienced spinner Keshav Maharaj, who wasn’t a part of the previous match and will join the team for this particular match.
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Maharaj is expected to be drafted straight into the playing XI in place of Subrayen, with the rest of the team remaining the same.
South Africa would be happy with the way the batters showed resilience, especially in the first innings, and made the Pakistani toil hard to get their wickets.
The likes of Ryan Rickelton and Aiden Markram, and Tony de Zorzi, in particular, played with great maturity and would like to replicate the same effort in the upcoming match.
The only concern for the team, as far as the batting department is concerned, would be the form of captain Aiden Markram and new number three Wiaan Mulder.
Although Markram has time and again shown what he is capable of with the bat and would back himself to come good at the top of he order, Mulder will be under a bit of pressure as he hasn’t made any contribution of note at number three.
Amidst the lack of form of Markram, the South Africa team management would hope for his opening partner, Rickelton, to have a good outing with the bat once again, and for the two to take shine off the ball.
Middle-order batsmen and all-rounders: Wiaan Mulder, Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Kyle Verreynne (wk)
The opening pair will be followed by a middle order, which, despite lacking experience of playing in the longest format of the game in Pakistan, was able to put its best foot forward in the first Test.
The captain would want the likes of Tony de Zorzi and Tristan Stubbs to do more of what they did in the first and second innings of the match, respectively.
While Tony de Zorzi, who might not have found a place in the playing XI if regular captain Temba Bavuma were available, scored a century in challenging conditions in the first innings, Stubbs completed a counter-attacking half-century while chasing.
The visitors would also hope for the lower-order batters to make a vital contribution, as was the case in the last match.
Bowlers: Simon Harmer, Senuran Muthusamy, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada
Like the batters, South Africa would also be satisfied by the way the team’s bowling came to the fore in both innings.
The spin bowling trio of Simon Harmer, Senuran Muthusamy, and Prenelan Subrayen restricted the opposition to a par total and didn’t let the game shift by doing so.
The team’s fast bowling, which was handled by Kagiso Rabada, also did its job by keeping things tight from one end.
Proteas would hope for the bowling attack, which will be strengthened by the addition of Keshav Maharaj, to keep up the good work in the final Test as well.
