Kolkata, Nov 14 India have welcomed back Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel into their playing eleven as South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first in the Test series opener at the Eden Gardens on Friday.
South Africa, the current World Test Championship winners, come on the back of a 1-1 draw in Pakistan and are playing a Test match in India after six years. India, meanwhile, arrive after beating the West Indies 2-0 at home last month.
Pant, returning from a right foot fracture, has reclaimed the wicketkeeping duties and comes in place of Nitish Kumar Reddy, who was released from the squad to play India A 50-over games against South Africa A in Rajkot.
Axar, meanwhile, comes into the playing eleven at the expense of B Sai Sudharsan, with India fielding all four spinners and another keeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, who’s slated to bat at number seven.
Interestingly, off-spin bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar is slotted to bat at number three, as per the team sheet. “I think the only toss that I'm going to win is hopefully in the WTC finals. Looks like a good surface. Hopefully, we'll get some movement early, hopefully we're able to extract that. Dressing room is pretty amazing.
“This Test bunch is very hungry and is always determined to perform every time we come out. These two test matches for us are very crucial and we're as hungry as ever. Looks like a good surface. It's going to be a good surface for the first day or a couple of days. Then, hopefully, we'll get some turn as the game goes on,” said India skipper Shubman Gill.
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said fast bowling spearhead Kagiso Rabada misses out with a rib injury, and Corbin Bosch comes into the playing eleven.
“The boys just came back from Pakistan. I was with the A team. From a preparation point of view, we've done as best as we can. It's not every day you get to play against 50,000-60,000 people in the stands. So, I'm looking forward to the challenge.
“Being back in India, it's always an eye-opener. Looking forward to everything. It's been sitting well at the moment (on being the World Test Champions). Hopefully, nothing really changes. For the performance point of view, work around with a lot more pride. But to keep doing what we've been doing. The pitch is on the dry side. Not much grass. It's a typical Indian wicket. First innings runs is the key,” he said.
Playing XIs
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
South Africa: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (captain), Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, and Keshav Maharaj
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