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Match Details
Date: December 26-30, 2021
Time: 1:30 PM IST (every match day)
Venue: SuperSport Park Cricket Stadium, Centurion
Live Ball-by-ball Commentary: SportsTiger App
Preview:
After Team India extended their dominance at home in the recent Test series against New Zealand, they will now have an overseas Test ahead of them with South Africa hosting them for three Test matches. With South Africa remaining the only country where the Men in Blue have not won a Test series in history, Virat Kohli and his men will be eager to conquer the final territory and settle the debate, if any, over the best Test team in recent years.
The Indian Test team is studded with batters like Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and also has in-form Shreyas Iyer. In addition, eyes will be on Cheteshwar Pujara while a call on the selection of Ajinkya Rahane will also be an interesting one to see with both of them not having as many runs under their belt as one has come to expect from them over the years especially Rahane who has looked out of place.
On the other side, South Africa have at least the psychological advantage of the record. The Dean Elgar-led side would hope that while their batters - the likes of Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, and Quinton de Kock (at least for the series opener) score runs, they have the attack in their home turf to ask tough questions to the Indian batters.
Weather Report:
Pitch Report
Key Players:
Analysis:
Quinton de Kock will be the go-to wicketkeeper option for the opening Test match of the series. Include Rishabh Pant too, if the balance of the Fantasy XI allows to field two wicketkeepers. Added advantage is that they will be almost guaranteed of fetching a few points in conditions useful for swing bowling where both the edges of the bats will be constantly challenged. That means filling the bowling line up with pacers will be the wise thing to do with Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj arguably being the best pacers. Mohammed Shami could also be swapped in for any one of them, depending upon the user's reading of the surface. Ravichandran Ashwin should be the lone spinner and doubles up as an all-rounder in this case. Among the batters Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Dean Elgar, and Aiden Markram could be the ones to select for the fantasy side.
Probable Playing XIs:
India: Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj,
South Africa: Dean Elgar (c), Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Keegan Pietersen, Quinton de Kock (wk), Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Duaan Olivier, Lungi Ngidi
People's pick for Fantasy:
Team 1
Team 2
Best 14
Wicketkeepers: Quinton de Kock, Rishabh Pant
Batters: Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram
All-rounders: Ravichandran Ashwin, Wiaan Mulder, George Linde
Bowlers: Kagiso Rabada,Lungi Ngidi, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Disclaimer: The fantasy tips and facts expressed within this article are personal opinion of the author. They do not reflect the views of SportsTiger. It is not a reflection of the actual points you might earn. SportsTiger does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.