IND vs SA: Aiden Markram Tests Positive For Covid-19, Misses Out First T20I vs India

Star South Africa National Cricket Team batting all-rounder Aiden Markram tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of the first match of the five-match T20I series against the India National Cricket Team.

After testing positive for Covid-19, Aiden Markram, who was in brilliant form for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, was forced to miss the encounter against Rishabh Pant and Co. at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Thursday, June 9.

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Meanwhile, Temba Bavuma won the toss in the first T20I against India and he opted to bowl first. He was hopeful of restricting India to a below-par total.

“We are going to have a bowl first. We played a practice game here a couple of days ago, so that the wicket got better to bat on. It was a bit slow and stoppy at the beginning, hopefully we can exploit that and restrict them to a decent score and chase it down,” Bavuma said at the toss.

Aiden Markram was not available for selection as he tested positive for Covid – Temba Bavuma

The Proteas captain further revealed that the batting all-rounder Aiden Markram will miss the fixture against India after testing positive for Covid-19 and Tristan Stubbs will replace him in the playing XI.

“Aiden was not available for selection as he tested positive for Covid, Stubbs comes and it is a debut for him. We have two all-rounders; Dwaine and Parnell also come into the fold,” Temba Bavuma said at the toss.

“It is an important series as we haven’t been together as a group since the World Cup, it is a preparation for the World Cup coming up in Australia. For us it is about to build momentum and build confidence going ahead,” he further said.

South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Temba Bavuma(c), Reeza Hendricks, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje.

India (Playing XI): Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan

Also Read: IND vs SA: Hardik Pandya Should Not Be Put Under Pressure To Bowl 4 Overs Regularly: Ashish Nehra

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