SA vs India, 1st Test: Virat Kohli elects to bat
South Africa and India are facing each other in the Boxing Day Test at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. Both teams are searching for some crucial points in the ICC World Test Championship. India are in pursuit of their first Test series win in the Rainbow Nation. The news from the center is that Virat Kohli has won the toss and elected to bat.
India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli (captain), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj. South Africa (Playing XI): Dean Elgar (captain), Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wicket-keeper), Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi.
The SuperSport Park (Centurion) will host the series opener. It will begin at 1:30 PM IST. The wicket here is deemed one of the quickest. Notably, the top five wicket-takers on this venue are seamers. The surface has plenty for the batters too. One can watch the match live on the Star Sports Network and stream the same on the Hotstar app (paid subscription).
The two teams have met 39 times in Test cricket, with South Africa leading the head-to-head series 15-14. A total of 10 matches have resulted in a draw. India have won the last four Tests between the two sides. However, they have a poor record in South Africa. The Indians have won only three out of 20 Tests in the nation so far.
All eyes will be on Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who has now played 23 Test innings without scoring a hundred. He hasn't registered a hundred in 51 international matches. Kohli has amassed 2,025 runs in these matches (20 half-centuries). During the New Zealand series, he became the first Indian captain to register 10 ducks in Test cricket.
