Men’s ODI WC: India win toss, opt to bat first against South Africa

by IANS |

Kolkata, Nov 5 (IANS) India won the toss and opted to bat first against South Africa in the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup league stage match here at Eden Gardens Stadium on Sunday.

While India remained unchanged, South Africa have made one change with spinner Tabraiz Shamsi coming in for Gerald Coetzee.

After winning the toss, India skipper Rohit Sharma said: "It looks a good pitch and honestly it's more to do with what we want to do as a team. I think it's going to be a good game with two teams at the top of the table. I love playing here and the Indian team loves playing at this historic ground."

On the other hand, Proteas captain Temba Bavuma said: “We would have batted first, but now we need to chase, which will be a nice challenge. We know that’s one area where we need to gain more confidence, we'll have to bat with responsibility. We have been putting on good consistent performances and we'll look to improve going forward."

Playing XIs:

India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj

South Africa: Quinton de Kock(w), Temba Bavuma(c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi