Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer not playing: India have included their former vice-captain ahead of two rookie batters for this match.
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During the first day of the first Test of the ongoing India’s tour of South Africa in Centurion, India captain Virat Kohli has won the toss and chose to bat on a cloudy day.
“We will bat first. Runs on the board playing away home has been our strength. The pitch tends to quicken up here on Day 2 and 3. Our success away from home started from the series we played here last time. Very challenging place to play. South African unit is always strong and they know the conditions,” Kohli told SuperSport at the toss.
Playing a home Test after exactly a year, South Africa captain Dean Elgar announced a Test debut for fast bowler Marco Jansen. While South Africa have included an all-rounder in Wiaan Mulder, they have have left out pacer Duanne Olivier.
“Looking forward to what is going to be a brilliant Test series. We had a good week’s camp in Johannesburg. We are prepared as best as we could. There’s a debutant in Marco Jansen. Tall left-arm bowler who bowled well against India A. [Wiaan] Mulder as all-rounder. Kesh [Keshav Maharaj] is our spinner. KG [Kagiso Rabada], Lungi [Ngidi] and Marco are the pacers,” Elgar told SuperSport at the toss.
Why are Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer not playing vs South Africa?
Talking about the visitors’ Playing XI for this match, they have stuck to their five-bowler strategy. The only selection conundrum for them was around their No. 5 batter and India have included former vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane ahead of Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer.
“The prep has been wonderful. Quite lucky to get the centre-wicket for practice. We are playing four bowlers and an all-rounder. [Mohammed] Siraj, [Mohammed] Shami, [Jasprit] Bumrah, [Ravichandran] Ashwin and [Shardul] Thakur is the all-rounder,” Kohli added.
While Kohli didn’t provide any reason behind picking an out-of-form Rahane ahead of Vihari and Iyer, it seems that India have put their faith in Rahane’s Test record against and in South Africa for the Boxing Day Test.
In the 11 Tests that Rahane has played against South Africa, his 748 runs have come at an average of 57.53 with the help of three centuries and half-centuries each. In four Tests in South Africa, Rahane has scored 266 runs at an average of 53.20 including two gritty half-centuries. Rahane, who has always contributed against the Proteas, has 1,254 runs against them at 50.16 across formats.
Rahane’s inclusion means that Vihari will continue to sit out despite being sent to South Africa (at the cost of missing a home series against New Zealand) with the A team to acclimatize to the conditions. Iyer, who had replaced Vihari for New Zealand Tests, had registered a match-winning century on debut last month.
