South Africa playing XI for Boxing Day Test against Pakistan announced

South Africa National Cricket Team have named their playing XI for the first Test of the two-match series against the Pakistan National Cricket Team. The Boxing Day match between the teams will be played from 26th December at the Supersport Park in Centurion.

The opening combination for the South Africa National Cricket Team will be unchanged as Tony de Zorzi and Aiden Markram will continue at the top. The duo had a great outing in the series against the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team and would want to come up with an even better performance.

Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma, and David Bedingham will be middle-order batters for South Africa

Ryan Rickelton, who slammed a sensational century against Sri Lanka National Cricket Team, retains his place in the team. While Tristan Stubbs will be batting at No.4 in the first match. The young batter has put big strides forward in his career in the longest format of the game and would be high on confidence.

Skipper Temba Bavuma, who has been going through the purple patch in the Tests, would be batting at No.5 in the first match against the Pakistan National Cricket Team. He would want to carry on the same form and lead from the front.

David Bedingham will be at 6 while Kyle Verreynne will be the keeper. The former hasn't scored big in a while and would be having a great opportunity to make his case strong. While Verreynne recently slammed a ton against Sri Lanka and would want to carry on the same form.

Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen will be the two front-line pacers for the team, while Dan Paterson will be the third fast bowler. In the absence of Keshav Maharaj, Corbin Bosch has been named in the team.

South Africa XI for the first Test against Pakistan

Here's the Proteas' playing XI for the first Test against Pakistan

Tony de Zorzi, Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Paterson, Corbin Bosch

SA confirm XI for the Boxing Day Test:
Tony de Zorzi, Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Paterson, Corbin Bosch#SAvPAK

— Firdose Moonda (@FirdoseM) December 24, 2024

South Africa National Cricket Team are just a step away from the final of the ICC World Test Championship

South Africa National Cricket Team are just a step away from the final of the ICC World Test Championship. They need to win just one match to book their spot in the final. With the kind of form they have been going, it won't be a surprise if they win both games.

South Africa National Cricket Team won the Test series against Bangladesh and then also defeated Sri Lanka. They would want to win the series against Pakistan as well to end and start the year on high. The Temba Bavuma-led side are at the top of the ICC World Test Championship points table and would want to solidify their position at home.

Also read: "These youngsters are...": Rohit Sharma's bold verdict on Pant, Gill, Jaiswal's struggles in Australia