SA vs IND- Toss Report, India tour of South Africa 1st Test

The much-awaited Test series between India and South Africa will get underway on December 26 with the first of the three Tests being played at the SuperSport Park in Centurion.

The hosts South Africa will have their new skipper, Dean Elgar, taking over for their first Test series in nearly six months. They are still rebuilding their squad having lost two of their all-time greats in AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis.

Elgar and Quinton de Kock are two of their most-experienced batsmen and they will be accompanied by a rather inexperienced middle-order. Aiden Markram has shown great form in the white-ball formats and it will be interesting to see if he can keep it up in the red-ball game.

The Proteas have been dealt a body blow before the start of the series as their pace bowler, Anrich Nortje, was ruled out of the 3-match Test series due to a hip injury. They are stocked up on pace bowling options with Kagiso Rabada expected to spearhead the attack.

As for India, batting remains a worry. Rohit Sharma was ruled out due to a hamstring injury and he will be missed dearly. KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal will be opening for the visitors. The middle-order will have to show up as the conditions will be tough for batting.

In the bowling department, Virat Kohli and co. certainly have the better pace attack with the trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, and Mohammed Siraj working very well together. Ravichandran Ashwin is likely to be the sole spinner in the side and his contributions with the bat will also be crucial.

South Africa vs India, 2021: 1st Test, Centurion – Toss Report

Team India have won the toss in the first Test against South Africa and skipper Virat Kohli has decided to bat first at the Supersport Park in Centurion.

South Africa vs India, 2021: 1st Test, Centurion – Playing XI Details

India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

South Africa (Playing XI): Dean Elgar(c), Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock(w), Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi

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