India have opted to bat first against South Afrcia in a high voltage match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India on Monday.
Winning the toss Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said, “We will bat first. Looks like a good pitch, it wasn't to do with the pitch, we wanted to challenge ourselves. It'll be a good game, two teams who have played consistent cricket and have topped the table, will be nice to win and go on top.”
“I love to play over here, not just me, the entire team looks forward to play at this historic ground. We're playing the same team, don't think we need to change anything with the way we've been playing.”
South African captain Temba Bavuma said, “We would have batted first, but now we need to chase, which will be a nice challenge. We know that’s one area where we need to gain more confidence, we'll have to bat with responsibility. We have been putting on good consistent performances and we'll look to improve going forward. One change - Shamsi comes in place of Gerald Coetzee.”
South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Temba Bavuma(c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.
