IND vs SA T20 World Cup: Fans across Pakistan will pray for India's win over South Africa- Know why

On a high after two consecutive wins in a row, Group 2 leaders India will aim to move closer to a T20 World Cup semifinal berth when they face South Africa at Perth's Optus Stadium on Sunday. More than that, Pakistan's players would be paying close attention to the outcome of the match.

A win for India keeps Pakistan in the tournament, which means Rohit Sharma and company will be in the prayers of an additional 22 crore people from across the border, in addition to 139 crore Indians.

Pakistan is in fifth place in Group 2 following losses to India and Zimbabwe, and they have three must-win games ahead of them, but they will also have to rely on the results of other matches to proceed to the knockout stages.

Coming to Sunday's game, it will be India's maiden appearance at the new stadium, which has a surface identical to the historic WACA facility across the Swan River, which boasts the quickest wicket in Australia. While the Optus stadium's dimensions are enormous, and six-hitting may need some effort, the surface appears to be suitable for batting, with an average first innings score of 157. However, with the exception of Marcus Stoinis' 18-ball 59 to floor Sri Lanka, all three games of the T20 World Cup have been low-scoring contests.

With bleak clouds hovering over the stadium but hardly any threat of rain, it could well be a good test between the quicks and batters from either side on Sunday.

South African pacer Kagiso Rabada finds the nature of the track similar to the ones back home, and with the high bounce on offer, he, alongside Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi, has it in them to make the batters dance to their tunes.

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While the men in blue aren't fans of the chop-and-change method, KL Rahul's poor performances in the first two games may push Rohit Sharma to bring in Deepak Hooda or Rishabh Pant to bolster the lower middle order. Also, Hooda's off-spin, along with Ravichandran Ashwin, could be the favored second choice against a left-hand-heavy Proteas side. Axar could be rested in that situation.

The Africans, on the other hand, will be hopeful that their captain Temba Bavuma can shake off the rust off his bat, despite Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw making it up more frequently than not. 

Rilee has been on fire since his return to South African colours after six years, during which he took up a Kolpak deal to play county cricket in England, bringing up his second successive century alongside a 96 in just seven innings, and the Proteas will be hoping for the southpaw to continue in the same vein to dethrone India from the top spot in Group 2.

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