Centurion [South Africa]: The toss for the first Test clash between India and South Africa on Tuesday has been delayed due to wet patches on the outfield of SuperSport Park.
"The toss and start of the 1st Test between South Africa and India have been delayed due to wet patches on the outfield. Further inspection at 10:00 AM (1.30 PM IST)" the Board of Control for Cricket in India on Tuesday posted on X.
https://twitter.com/BCCI/status/1739543676508864632?
Overcast conditions were already foreshadowing the arrival of rain at the time of the clash.
India will kickstart the red-ball leg of the South Africa tour with the first Test at Centurion on Tuesday. After drawing the T20I series 1-1 and winning the ODI series 2-1, Men in Blue will be aiming to win their first-ever Test series in South Africa.
This will also be the first international assignment of seniors like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah following the loss to Australia in the ICC Cricket World Cup finals.
In the pre-match press conference, Rohit said that Indian seamers have earned a lot of respect over the last five to seven years with their performances overseas and added that though Shami will be a big miss due to an injury, the team has confidence in bowlers who will fill up his shoes.
"Our seamers have earned that respect, because of how they perform in overseas conditions. For the last five to seven years, they have done well in Australia, England and South Africa. Even in South Africa, we won the first Test last year but came close in the next two matches. They have pulled their weight in and given us what we expect from them. Shami will be a big miss, his experience and what he has done for our team over the years. Someone will come to fill his place, it is not going to be easy, but we have a lot of confidence in whoever takes his place," said Rohit.
India's squad for Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (Wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohd. Shami*, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna.
South Africa Squad: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma(c), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne(w), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Gerald Coetzee, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Keegan Petersen, Wiaan Mulder, Nandre Burger, Tristan Stubbs.
—ANI