India won the toss and elected to bat first in the series decider third Test match in Cape Town on Tuesday (January 11). India made two big changes in the playing XI for the decider Test where Captain Virat Kohli, who missed the second Test due to back spasm, came in at the expense of Hanuma Vihari while Umesh Yadav chipped in to replace injured Mohammed Siraj.
Mohammed Siraj had hurt his hamstring during the opening day of the second Test against South Africa in Johannesburg.
“You cannot control what's above your head. Runs on this venue have always worked out well at this venue. I am fit and fine. I come in for Vihari. Siraj missed out because of a niggle and Umesh comes in for him. Umesh has been very potent with the ball recently, very handy in the field and with the bat as well. It was a tough decision to choose between the two. We are expected to win every Test we play overseas and that fourth innings chase from South Africa was a special one from them. It is a beautiful stadium and we are very excited,” Virat Kohli said after the toss.
“Ideally you want to bat first on this surface and given the overhead conditions it might not be a bad idea to bowl first. The cricket we have been playing the last few months been very special given the number of players we lost. One good thing about having younger guys come in is that they come with a fresh, new mindset which is quite warming for us and then me who has this old school mentality which has been a balancing act for us and obviously we try to implement that with what we have in the change room. We are unchanged,” South Africa captain Dean Elgar said.
India's playing XI: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wicket keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav.
South Africa's playing XI: Dean Elgar (captain), Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Kyle Verreynne (wicket keeper), Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Duanne Olivier, Lungi Ngidi.
