The Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elect to bat first in the third Test match of Freedom series against South Africa.
Kohli: “We are going to bat first. There is a good grass covering here and it’s always been there. If we bat well, we can put some pressure on them. We’ve played some really good cricket here. Even the last time around, we did well. Should be a good contest. We are up against a side who are really strong in their conditions as they have shown in the first two Tests. We have two changes.”
India (Playing XI): Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Parthiv Patel(w), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
Du Plessis: “We were thinking to bowl first. Wanting to get into their batting line-up. If there is a lot of sunshine, the cracks could widen but if it stays overcast, then there could be a lot of movement. It’s also quite hard and that’s why we wanted to bowl. Yeah, Jo’burg never really spins and hence so the spinner usually has to do a holding role. So, we have Andile in for Keshav. They are always a quality side and it’s a good motivation for us to beat them 3-0.”
South Africa (Playing XI): Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Lungisani Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo
