The Dhawan-Vijay duo looked determined to face the South Africa pacers as they put up a bright 30-plus run partnership for the opening wicket soon after MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat.
India have made one change for this match as they bring in Ravindra Jadeja in place of R Ashwin. On the other hand, South Africa have brought in Robin Peterson for Imran Tahir.
"The wicket looks good, slightly on the dry side, but it will have pace and bounce for the fast bowlers," Dhoni said at the toss.
"It's been an emotional few days, we hope that he gets celebrated in the next five days and we can really put in the performance that is fitting for the man who has done so much for South African cricket," South Africa captain Graeme Smith said at the toss.
After sharing the honours in a thrilling draw in the first Test, which turned out to be the most perfect advertisement for Test cricket giving five days of an engaging clash, the second Test promises to be another epic encounter.
South Africa were left needing just eight runs for what would have been one of the most memorable Test wins of all time on Day 5 of the opening Test. India, on the other hand, were left wondering as to what turned the fortunes so drastically after four days of domination.
The number-one ranked Test side though couldn't be beaten, as they bounced back from near-defeat and rose up to near-victory in the span of three sessions on the last day. And so, the first match of this series came to be hailed as the greatest drawn Test ever.
At Kingsmead, the two sides will go head-to-head in a decider that is more than just another five-day Ever since this tour got embroiled in a battle between the Board of Control for Cricket in India and Cricket South Africa for off-field matters, it has been about bragging rights.
The visitors carry momentum into this second Test, especially with the way they strangled South Africa in that last hour's play, forcing them to call their world-record pursuit mere eight runs short of creating history.
If the hosts ought to be believed, all they wanted to do was save the Test and they succeeded. They wanted this chance to win the series, in this last encounter before Team India leaves.
Teams:
South Africa: Graeme Smith (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn.
India: MS Dhoni (c & wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami.
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