India vs South Africa 2015 1st Test Match : Preview, Team News, Live stream and TV Channel Info

India will hope to put in a good performance in the four-match Test series

After a month long of bang-bang (read T20 & ODI) cricket, we are back to the traditional format - Test cricket. And it indeed will be a test, more so for the Indian captain Virat Kohli and his young Indian team than the South Africans.

For, the Indians have lost both the T20 & ODI series and a drubbing in the test series will not go down well with the fickle minded Indian fans. So, when the Gandhi-Mandela series gets underway in Le Corbusier’s Chandigarh a lot will be at stake for Kohli who would be playing his first match as captain on home soil.

As far as the South Africans are concerned, their record speaks volumes for itself. They haven’t lost an away test series since 2006 when they lost to the Sri Lankans and they last lost a test match more than a year back against the Australians. It’s no wonder that they are the number one test side by a considerable margin.

In AB de Villiers, who is in the form of his life, and Hashim Amla they have two batsmen who are well equipped to handle anything that the Indians throw at them.

In the bowling department, on the one hand, Dale Steyn can destroy any batting on his day irrespective of the wicket, on the other hand, Imran Tahir would be more than a handful on spinner friendly wickets.

For once, the pressure on the visiting side in India will be less. But the Proteas know that Indians have always been a difficult force to deal with in home conditions and over the years even the best sides have found the going tough in Indian conditions.

One thing in favour of the Indians is their record at Mohali where they haven’t lost a test match in more than 20 years when they lost to the West Indies in 1994.

It is also to be seen if the partnership of skipper Kohli & Team Director Ravi Shastri continues with their brand of aggressive cricket. If it happens then we could be in for a thrilling test match on a pitch which the curator has called as a “sporting wicket”.

Broadcast Details

TV Channel: Star Sports 1, HD1 (English) and 3, HD3 (Hindi)

Online Stream: www.starsports.com

Date: November 5, Thursday

Time: 0930 IST | 0600 SAST

Venue: PCA Stadium, Mohali

For any other updates regarding the match, follow the Sportskeeda website.

Team News

India

Indians who are already without their pace spearhead Ishant Sharma would be hoping that Ravichandran Ashwin would have fully recovered from his injury before the start of the match.

Ravindra Jadeja who has made a comeback to the team on account of brilliant performances in the Ranji Trophy would be keen to make use of this opportunity.

It is the batting front in which captain Kohli will have headaches making the choice. KL Rahul might miss the bus given the fact that both Shikhar Dhawan & Murali Vijay are match fit.

As has been the case for last few test matches, it again seems to be a toss up between Cheteshwar Pujara & Rohit Sharma. Given the history of Mohali wicket, Pujara might just get the nod ahead of Rohit Sharma.

South Africa

JP Duminy’s absence, who is a doubtful starter for the first test match might just give a blow to the balance of the South African squad who are already dealing with the gap left by Jacques Kallis’ retirement.

Their batting will once again rely heavily on the likes of AB de Villiers & Hashim Amla. Kagiso Rabada who impressed in the ODI series might miss out as the Proteas’ are likely to go in with two spinners.

Possible Line-ups

India XI

Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (Wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Umesh Yadav

South Africa XI

Dean Elgar, Stiaan van Zyl, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla (C), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy/Vernon Philander, Dane Vilas (Wk), Imran Tahir, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Simon Harmer

Pitch & Conditions

With winter just setting in the northern part of the country, the conditions seem ideal for test match cricket and the South Africans will take this weather with both hands after a month of cricket in the scorching heat.

Mohali has traditionally been a lively wicket by sub-continent standards and with the forecast of a cloudy day on Thursday the captain winning the toss may consider bowling first. Although, don’t be surprised if all the grass is shaved off prior to the start of the match given Indian teams’ vulnerability against quick bowling.

Recent Form

India: W-W-L-D-D

South Africa: D-D-W-D-W

Key Stats

1. This will be the first test match in Mohali not featuring the great Sachin Tendulkar
2. AB de Villiers needs 135 runs to complete 1000 runs against India in Tests. He would become the 4th South African to achieve this feat after Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith & Hashim Amla
3. Umesh Yadav is 2 wickets short of reaching 50 test wickets
4. Ravichandran Ashwin is 5 wickets short of reaching 150 test wickets
5. Virat Kohli needs 206 runs to complete 3000 test runs
6. Rohit Sharma needs 130 runs to complete 1000 test runs
7. Imran Tahir is 7 wickets short of reaching 50 test wickets