Wriddhiman Saha will be back in the Indian Test side when they take on South Africa for the first Test of the Paytm Freedom Trophy 2019 in Visakhapatnam at the Dr YSR ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.
Toss: India won the toss and elected to bat
The first of the three Tests will begin on Wednesday, October 2. The first day's play will begin at 9:30 AM IST, 6:00 AM SAST. Last time South Africa toured India, the hosts won the four-match Test series 3-0 in 2015.
IND vs SA 1st Test Star Sports and Hotstar broadcast
Star Sports 1 will broadcast the match Live in India with English commentary while Star Sports 1 Hindi will do the telecast accompanied with Hindi commentary.
Hotstar will provide online streaming of the match in the Indian subcontinent via its website and app.
Read: India vs South Africa 3rd T20 live streaming on Hotstar.com Sunday
SuperSport will provide television coverage of the match live in South Africa while SuperSport Live will stream the five days of the test via the app and the website in South Africa.
Rohit seeks career transformation in Tests as well
Indian captain Virat Kohli announced the XI a day ahead of the match. The surprising inclusion was of wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha in the XI. He replaces Rishabh Pant, who was preferred ahead of Saha in the last series. Rohit Sharma will open the innings which was also confirmed by Kohli, according to the Cricbuzz report.
Both Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will play while Hanuma Vihari will bat at no. 6.
After the thrilling T20Is, Team India & South Africa are all set to lock horns again.
Who will come out on top?
Watch the 1st Test of the #INDvSA series starting today, 9:30 AM onwards on Hotstar.#ICCTestChampionship
— Hotstar (@hotstartweets) October 2, 2019
Proteas seek redemption after 2015
South African has a strong unit on paper under the leadership of Far du Plessis.
They are likely to go with five bowlers with two spinners in Keshav Maharaj and Dane Piedt. Vernon Philander is expected to be the all-rounder while Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada will be the pacers.
1st Test. India XI: R Sharma, M Agarwal, C Pujara, V Kohli, A Rahane, H Vihari, W Saha, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, I Sharma, M Shami https://t.co/67i9pBAKIR #IndvSA @Paytm
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 2, 2019
There has been some rain for the past few days in Vizag but still, it will be good for batting. Spinners will get some help from the turf easily but on day one the pitch might surely have some assistance for the pacers. The team which wins the toss is still likely to elect to bat first.