India captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat despite a cloudy sky at Centurion Supersport Park in the first Test against South Africa. The two teams will play in a three-match Test series starting today which is also a part of the ICC World Test Championship.
Putting to rest all speculations about the team combination, India continue to put their faith in the struggling middle-order duo of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, with neither Hanuma Vihari nor Shreyas Iyer making the cut. They have picked three frontline seamers assisted by a fast bowling all-rounder in Shardul Thakur, with Ravichandran Ashwin as the lone spinner.
Rahane, who missed the second Test against New Zealand in Mumbai due to injury, has made a comeback.
India vs South Africa: full coverage , photos , the schedule , result
Explaining his decision to bat first on the toss, Kohli said, “Scoring runs on the board outside home has been our strength. The pitch gets quicker here on the second and third days.”
“Our success away from home started with the series we played here last time. Very challenging place to play (in South Africa). The South African unit is always strong and they know the situation.”
South Africa, on the other hand, have their debut in the eleven in the form of fast bowler Marco Jensen, who has been preferred over Duane Olivier.
“We’re looking forward to having a nice and relaxed and great Test series,” South Africa captain Dean Elgar said during the toss. “We’ve had a good week’s camp in Johannesburg. We’re prepared as best we can.”
India XI: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
South Africa XI: Dean Elgar (c), Aiden Markram, Keegan Pietersen, Rassi van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wk), Viaan Mulder, Marco Janssen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
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