South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma won the toss and opted to bat first. Bavuma revealed that the possibility of the pitch slowing up as the match progresses is the reason behind his decision.
Team India have handed a ODI debut to exciting batting all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer. Marco Jansen will make his ODI debut for the hosts following an impressive showing in the recently concluded Test series.
Here are the playing XIs for today’s game:
India playing XI: KL Rahul (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal
South Africa playing XI: Quinton de Kock(w), Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma(c), David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi
Follow the live match updates here.
Most of the Indian cricket fans are looking forward to witnessing Virat Kohli in action without leadership responsibilities after a long time. Venkatesh Iyer’s debut has also been well received as he is an exciting prospect for India across formats. Some ae unhappy about the team’s balance, with Shardul Thakur slotted in at number 7.
Here are some of the best reactions from fans:
“Virat had this amazing ability to get the best out of everybody” - KL Rahul on the experience of playing under Virat Kohli’s leadership
KL Rahul recently praised former Indian skipper Virat Kohli and opened up about the great facets of his leadership tenure. Rahul revealed that Virat Kohli was great at bringing the best out of his teammates and pushing them positively to do special things on the field.
Speaking about Kohli’s captaincy stint at a press conference on the eve of the first ODI against South Africa, KL Rahul said:
He added:
India’s stand-in white ball captain signed off by saying:
Virat Kohli previously played under the captaincy of Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni before becoming a full-time skipper of India across all formats.
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