India will take on South Africa in the first of the two-match Test series. This article provides details about India’s Playing 11 vs South Africa for the first match of the series.
India Playing XI vs South Africa- 1st Test, South Africa Tour of India 2025:
Openers: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul
The hosts would like to carry the winning momentum that they have courtesy of a win in the T20I series against Australia into the first Test against South Africa at home.
The selectors have decided to stick with the same core that took on West Indies in the last assignment in this format of the game, with the inclusion of India’s vice-captain Rishabh Pant.
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Pant, who picked up an injury in a Test match on the tour of England, will be seen in action having gotten some game time under his belt with two multi-day matches against India, and will be rearing to go.
Pant’s inclusion will make it interesting for the captain and the management as far as the batting lineup is concerned, the reason being the form of Dhruv Jurel.
Jurel has been in magnificent form since the home series against West Indies, and it would be difficult to leave him out of the playing XI.
Other than that, the rest of the Indian batting order is expected to feature usual names, with Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul opening the innings.
The duo was in great form in the series against the Windies, which is evident from the fact that both batters scored individual hundreds, along with getting the team off to a good start.
The pair would want to build on it by replicating the same performance in the first Test against South Africa.
Middle-order batsmen and all-rounders: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel
Amidst the debate about the inclusion of Dhruv Jurel in the playing XI, there is no room for discussion regarding who India’s number three, four, and five batters should be for the upcoming match.
Sai Sudharshan, in all likelihood, will bat at number three, followed by Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant.
All three batters would aim to make a significant contribution while batting at their respective positions, especially Sai, who would be under a bit of pressure given that he hasn’t been able to perform consistently in the handful of chances so far.
Other than the above-mentioned batters, it has been made clear by the team management that Dhruv Jurel will play solely as a batter and Nitish Kumar Reddy will have to wait.
Bowlers: Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah
If we talk about the bowling combination, it is expected to play 2 fast bowlers and 3 spinners, with the surface being conducive for spin bowling a bit more than it will be for pace.
When it comes to the spinners, the team management might go in with the left-arm spin of Ravindra Jadeja and the off-spin of Washington Sundar. Kuldeep Yadav will in all likelihood, be the 3rd spin bowling option for the hosts. He was sent midway from Australia to prepare for the South Africa Tests.
The presence of the two spinners will also provide depth to the batting lineup, which will extend till number nine with Akash Deep coming in to bat at that particular position.
