Indian skipper comes back after the injury of ‘back spasm’ in the last game, and eyes for the historical win in South Africa. India won the toss and chose to bat first, with Virat coming back in place of Hanuma Vihari, along with Umesh Yadav who replaces Mohammed Siraj due to an injury. As quoted by Virat Kohli, he expects a good win with surface preferable to bat first and score a good total. The pitch looks fine, but can be put to thought for 4th and Final Day, due to tackiness around the surface. One end gives confidence to pacers, while the other end might encourage the spinners for movement.
South Africa’s playing 11 – Dean Elgar(c), Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Kyle Verreynne(w), Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Duanne Olivier, Lungi Ngidi.
India’s playing 11 – KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav
With Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul opening for the team, Indian top order looks fierce and competitive for the South African bowlers. Kohli is yet to prove his comeback from tough games he survived through and will aim to score runs, and lead better as a Captain.
South African is pumped up with the last game’s performance and will too eye for the series win today. Capetown will decide who gets the final and twisted game of this series today, on Tuesday, 11th January.