CricketFeature

Predicting India’s Strongest Playing XI For 1st Test Against South Africa

India will kick off their tour of South Africa with a 3-match Test series against the home team. The series will begin on December 26 at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. The second and third Test matches of this series will happen at the Wanderers Stadium and Newlands, respectively. Unfortunately, the visitors will not have the services of Rohit Sharma for this series.

Before the Indian cricket team’s departure to South Africa, the BCCI elected Rohit as the new vice-captain of the Test team. However, Sharma suffered a hamstring injury just a few days before leaving for South Africa. As a result, the Indian cricket team had to reach South Africa without their best Test opener. The team management has added uncapped player Priyank Panchal as a replacement for Rohit in the Test squad. Speaking of the Indian Test squad, here’s a look at the strongest Indian playing XI for the first Test against the Proteas.

Openers for India in 1st Test vs. South Africa – KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal

In Rohit Sharma’s absence, Mayank Agarwal will probably open the innings for India against the South African team. KL Rahul is the vice-captain of the Test squad in Sharma’s absence. Rahul was magnificent on the tour of England. He played in all four Test matches and scored 315 runs for the Indian cricket team in eight innings at an average of close to 40.

Advertisement

Mayank Agarwal is in great form as well. The right-handed batter scored a match-winning century against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium recently. Agarwal will be keen to cement his place in the Indian Test team by performing well against the Proteas.

Middle Order – Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant (wk)

According to reports, the South African tour is the last chance for veteran Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara to save his place in the team. Pujara has not played a big knock for India for quite some time. The Saurashtra batter’s average has been less than 30 in the last two years. His highest score in the last 32 innings has been 91.

Virat Kohli will lead the side. The captain will be keen to end his drought of centuries with a big score in the first Test. Shreyas Iyer might play at number five because of his excellent performance on his debut against New Zealand. Iyer’s recent form will give him an edge over Ajinkya Rahane and Hanuma Vihari. Rishabh Pant’s spot as the wicket-keeper is confirmed because of his magnificent performances in Test cricket.

Advertisement

All Rounders – Shardul Thakur and Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel will miss the tour because of injuries. In their absence, the team will not have an experienced left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder. They will probably prefer Ravichandran Ashwin over Jayant Yadav as the spin-bowling all-rounder because of his experience.

Shardul Thakur did an excellent job for the Indian cricket team in England and Australia. The all-rounder is most likely to be the pace-bowling all-rounder in the playing XI against the Proteas.

Bowlers – Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami

India do not have a left-arm pacer, but they have three top-quality right-arm fast bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami. All three pace bowlers can make a huge impact in the upcoming series.

Advertisement

Bumrah and Shami have played Test cricket in South Africa before. Meanwhile, Siraj is on his first tour of the African nation.

India’s Predicted Playing XI for 1st Test against South Africa

Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (WK), Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami/

Advertisement

Vinay

Vinay Chhabria is a cricket and WWE enthusiast who supports Roman Reigns and Gujarat Titans. He has been following cricket for the last 15 years and WWE since 2016.

Related Articles

Back to top button