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Former opener Gautam Gambhir has named his preferred Indian playing XI for the Boxing Day Test against South Africa, which will be played at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. Gambhir went with only one spinner in his playing XI but did not make a specific pick between Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.
India have never won a Test series in South Africa although they have run the Proteas close during their recent visits to the nation. This time as well there are high hopes from the visitors.
Team India’s playing combination has been a topic of much debate ahead of the Boxing Day Test. Speaking to Star Sports, Gambhir recently shared his preferred India XI for the Centurion Test against the Proteas.
According to the former opener, India should go in with only one spinner as they have done while playing Tests in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) nations in recent years. He further predicted that the visitors would go with either Jadeja or Ashwin as the lone spinner in the playing XI.
The 42-year-old picked Yashasvi Jaiswal as Rohit Sharma’s opening partner, with Shubman Gill coming in at No. 3. Further, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul will occupy the No. 4 and No. 5 slots followed by Shreyas Iyer.
Gambhir also picked pace-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur in his playing XI for the Centurion Test since conditions at the venue are expected to favor the faster men more.
As for the three frontline pacers, he went with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna, leaving out Mukesh Kumar. India will be without Shami for the Test series, who has been ruled out due to injury.
Gautam Gambhir's preferred India XI for 1st Test vs South Africa
Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravindra Jadeja/ R Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj.
Rahul is set to keep wickets in the two-match Test series against South Africa. Head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed the same on Sunday.
India won the opening Test in Centurion by 113 runs during their previous tour in 2021-22. However, they went on to lose the next two Tests in Johannesburg and Cape Town by seven wickets each to concede the series 2-1.
