India vs South Africa, 1st Test: Toss result and playing XIs for today's match, umpires list and pitch report
India will take on South Africa at the SuperSport Park in Centurion in the first Test of the two-match series, which starts on Boxing Day [December 26]. India have had an impressive tour of the Rainbow Nation so far. They drew the T20I series 1-1 and went on to win the ODI series by a 2-1 margin.
The Test matches, though, will be a different challenge. The visitors do not have a good record in red-ball games in South Africa. They have played 23 Tests in the country, winning only four and losing 12. Seven of the other matches have ended in a draw.
India have never won a Test series in South Africa, although they have competed hard during their recent visits. The visitors won the opening Test in Centurion during their previous tour in 2021-22, but failed to build on the momentum and ended up losing the next two Tests to concede the series.
IND vs SA 1st Test toss result
South Africa have won the toss and elected to bowl first. Skipper Temba Bavuma said:
“The wicket has been under cover for the last two days. We want to use of the moisture and make early inroads.”
The Proteas have two Test debutants in Nandre Burger and David Bedingham. For India, Prasidh Krishna is being handed his Test debut. Also, Ravichandran Ashwin will be the lone spinner in the team. Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out due to back spasms.
IND vs SA 1st Test match playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
South Africa: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma (c), Keegan Petersen, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (w), Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Kagiso Rabada, Nandre Burger.
IND vs SA 1st Test pitch report
According to Shaun Pollock and Ravi Shastri:
“[There is a] good covering of grass [on the surface]. Teams tend to bat first as it tends to start a bit slow. As the Test progresses, there might be a bit of up and down movement which could be tricky, Batting will get difficult as the Test match progresses.”
IND vs SA 1st Test match players list
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ravichandran Ashwin, KS Bharat, Mukesh Kumar, Abhimanyu Easwaran.
South Africa squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, David Bedingham, Keegan Petersen, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Gerald Coetzee, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Wiaan Mulder, Nandre Burger, Tristan Stubbs.
IND vs SA 1st Test match umpires
On-field umpires: Paul Reiffel, Langton Rusere
TV umpire: Ahsan Raza
Match Referee: Chris Broad