India vs South Africa Live Score Updates, 1st Test: Rohit aims to conquer the ‘final frontier’
India vs South Africa Live Score Updates, 1st Test: IND vs SA, Returning from a long hiatus after the ODI World Cup final, Rohit Sharma will lead the Indian team during the 1st test match against South Africa at the SuperSport Park Cricket Stadium in Centurion today.
Rohit-led India will face a formidable challenge against the Proteas who are now back at full strength and led by regular skipper Temba Bavuma. However, the Indian side will still fancy their chances against the Proteas with the return of many veterans in the team including Rohit Sharma, former captain Virat Kohli and pacer Jasprit Bumrah.
The Indian team are also missing many key players from the series including pacer Mohammed Shami who has been ruled out owing to an ankle injury, wicketkeeper batter Ishan Kishan who has asked to be released from the series and Ruturaj Gaikwad who has been ruled out with a finger injury.
Moreover, many Indian players will be thoroughly tested in South Africa, including young batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, who hasn’t been a regular part of the Test side, and players like Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, who have yet to prove their mettle in seaming and swinging conditions outside India.
India and South Africa squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk), Abhimanyu Easwaran (2nd Test).
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (captain), Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Dean Elgar, Keegan Petersen, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Tristan Stubbs (wk), Nandre Burger, Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, David Bedingham.
When, where and how to watch the 1st Test match?
The key clash between India and South Africa will kick off on December 26 at 13:30 hrs and will continue till December 30. The live stream of the key match will be available on the Disney+ Hotstar app. The match can also be watched live on Star Sports.
India vs South Africa Live: Where should Ashwin bat? Harbhajan Singh explains
India vs South Africa Live: Speaking on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan Singh said, “According to me Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal will open. Shubman Gill would come in at number three and the fourth spot will be for Virat Kohli. The fifth and sixth spots belong to Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul respectively. For number seven Ravindra Jadeja but the biggest question comes at number 8 with Ashwin and Shardul available. I feel Ashwin should play at number 8 because you have Jasprit Bumrah for number 9, Siraj for 10 and Prasidh Krishna for 1,”
“But here I feel the conditions will be hot, the pitch will be hard, the bounce will be there and you have three pacers so I think India should go with two spinners. I feel South Africa would love to place pace so I think you should play on your strength I feel Ashwin should play but I don’t see that happening,” the former cricketer added.
India vs South Africa Live: Why did Virat Kohli leave India camp ahead of 1st test match? BCCI sources reveal
India vs South Africa Live: In a major relief for Team India, star batter Virat Kohli has rejoined that Indian squad ahead of the first Test match against South Africa in Centurion. Earlier, it was reported that Virat Kohli had to leave South Africa due to some emergency, but the BCCI sources have revealed that Kohli was on a pre-planned London trip and is back in South Africa.
“Virat Kohli wasn’t going to play that game. The team management was aware of his plan and schedule, and it isn’t something that happened overnight or due to a family emergency. Look at the player in question, it’s Virat Kohli. He is very well planned when it comes to these things and his London trip was communicated and planned well in advance,” a BCCI official told news platform News18.
“Kohli left India for South Africa on December 15. Had good 3-4 training sessions before he went to London on December 19. For the next few days, he was in London and has now linked up with the Test squad and will in all likelihood train in Centurion tomorrow,” the official added.
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India vs South Africa Live: Sunil Gavaskar’s India playing XI for today
India vs South Africa Live: Speaking to Star Sports, the former Indian batting maestro said, “My playing XI is gonna be very simple. The openers will be Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma – the captain. No.3 Shubman Gill, No.4 – Kohli, No. 5 KL Rahul, and No.6 Shreyas Iyer. 5 and 6 can move, and after that will be Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin,”
“Then I’ll have three fast bowlers – Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj,” Gavaskar added.
India vs South Africa Live: Rohit wants to achieve what no other team has
India vs South Africa Live: Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Rohit Sharma said, “These are very important matches in terms of where we stand as a team. Also to look back that we have never won a series here as well, it’s a big opportunity for us to do well here,”
“We came pretty close the last two times when we toured here but again we have come to this place with lot of confidence to try and achieve what nobody (Indian) team has ever achieved in this part of the world,” the Indian skipper added.
India vs South Africa Live: When and where to watch the match?
India vs South Africa Live: The key clash between India and South Africa will kick off on December 26 at 13:30 hrs and will continue till December 30. The live stream of the key match will be available on the Disney+ Hotstar app. The match can also be watched live on Star Sports.
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India vs South Africa Live: IND captains who couldn’t win in SA
India vs South Africa Live: India has toured South Africa 9 times in the last 31 years and hasn’t managed to win a series in the SENA country. Indian captains who have failed to lead their team to series victory in South Africa include Mohammed Azharuddin (1992), Sachin Tendulkar (1996), Sourav Ganguly (2001), Rahul Dravid (2006-07), Dhoni (2010-11 and 2013-14), Virat Kohli (2018-19 and 2021-22).
India vs South Africa Live: It’s time to get result, says Rohit
India vs South Africa Live: In a pre-match press conference, Rohit Sharma said, “I don’t know whether a Test series win in South Africa can be a balm for a World Cup final defeat. I mean World Cup is World Cup. Itni mehnaat ki haai, kuch toh result milein. (We have been working so hard, it’s time we get some big result). We all want that,”
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