South Africa vs India, 1st Test: The Indian cricket team is preparing for a crucial two-match Test series against the hosts, following a historic ODI series success in South Africa. The action of the longest format of the game begins on December 26 with a Boxing Day Test at SuperSport Park in Centurion, followed by the second Test at Newlands on January 3.
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Indian captain Rohit Sharma, along with mainstays Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah, will make their long-awaited comeback. India will be on a quest to write their name in history by winning their first Test series in South Africa. Furthermore, The Men in Blue would be hoping to maintain their top spot in the World Test Championship 2023-25 Points table with a victory in the 2-match Test Series against The Proteas.
Yashasvi Jaiswal had a solid test series against the Windies as an opener, and he is set to open the innings alongside Skipper Rohit Sharma against South Africa. Rohit is returning to the National Team setup after a break following the conclusion of the ODI World Cup, and his contribution with the bat, along with Yashasvi Jaiswal, will be extremely important for Team India if they want to win their first ever Test Series on South African soil.
Shubman Gill (The Prince of Indian Cricket) will bat at No. 3 after giving up his opening place to teammate Yashasvi Jaiswal. Gill’s form has been somewhat troubling since he was not at all good in the just-finished three-match T20i series against South Africa, and he needs to perform well with the bat if India is to do well against South Africa.
King Kohli will bat at number four in the batting order. In the recently finished ODI World Cup 2023, he was in the best form of his life, overtaking the great Sachin Tendulkar in terms of most ODI centuries. He had a rest after the World Cup and will make his comeback in the Test series against the Proteas. He would be hoping to replicate his ODI form in the longest format of the game, and his contributions will be crucial for Team India against South Africa.
Shreyas Iyer will make his long-awaited return to the longest format of the game in the series against South Africa. He played his previous test match against Australia in this year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy before suffering a back injury that forced him to miss the IPL 2023 and the WTC 23 Final. Ajinkya Rahane replaced Iyer in the lineup, but Rahane failed to impress during the West Indies tour, and Shreyas Iyer has been in top form in recent months, and he will be eager to end 2023 on a high by helping India win the test series against South Africa.
KL-Rahul will play the role of wicketkeeper against the Proteas. He usually prefers opening in the longest format of the game, but this time he would be seen batting at number 6, which is going to be quite unusual for him, and it would be interesting to see how quickly he adapts to his new role in Test matches.
For the first match, Ravindra Jadeja is slated to be the lone spinner. The Centurion pitch is quite green and will favor the seamers, and we’ve seen that the Indian management likes Jadeja to be the lone spinner in seam-friendly circumstances, and that will be the case against the Proteas as well.
Shardul Thakur will be the team’s second all-rounder. If this match were taking place in India or at a venue where the conditions were favorable for spinners, Ashwin would have started ahead of Shardul, but because the surface would aid the seam bowlers, Ravi Ashwin will have to sit on the bench.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj are going to be sure shot starters in both the test matches against the Proteas, but the question is: who will be the 3rd seamer in the absence of the injured Mohammed Shami? Mukesh Kumar made his test debut against the Windies earlier this year and is coming off a decent ODI and T20i series against South Africa. The 30-year-old is expected to get the nod over Prasidh Krishna since Mukesh has already experienced the conditions of South Africa in the white ball series.
The forthcoming tests will be missed by Mohammed Shami, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Ishan Kishan. Shami and Gaikwad are out due to injuries, while Ishan Kishan has been withdrawn from the squad due to personal reasons.
KS Bharat and Abhimanyu Easwaran have been called up as replacements for Ruturaj and Ishan while no replacement has been announced for Shami, and Mukesh Kumar or Prasidh Krishna might play the role of the 3rd seamer in the test series against the Proteas.
Schedule of the Test Series between India and South Africa
1st Test: 26/12/23, 1:30 PM (IST) Supersport Park, Centurion
2nd Test: 3/01/24 2:00 PM (IST) Newlands, Cape Town
Where can we watch the Test Series between India and South Africa?
One can watch the action of the test series on the Star Sports network on TV.
Will the test matches be broadcast on any OTT platform?
Yes, one Can watch the live action of the test series on the application and website of Disney+Hotstar
India’s probable playing 11 for the 1st Test match
Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mukesh Kumar / Prasidh Krishna.
India’s Test Squad vs South Africa
Rohit Sharma (C), Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Abhimanyu Easwaran, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna.
South Africa’s Test Squad vs India
Temba Bavuma (C), Aiden Markram, Dean Elgar, David Bedingham, Nandre Burger, Tony de Zorzi, Keegan Petersen, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Wiaan Mulder, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Gerald Coetzee.
Read: Rohit Sharma’s biggest mental challenge during India vs South Africa 1st Test reveals Sunil Gavaskar
For more details, head to the ICC’s official website.