India won the coin toss and decided to bat first in their faceoff against South Africa in the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup's league stage bout, being held at the iconic Eden Gardens Stadium on a sunny Sunday.
India's starting lineup remained unaltered, while South Africa made a strategic shift by bringing in spinner Tabraiz Shamsi in place of Gerald Coetzee.
Following his victorious toss, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma commented, "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."
Proteas captain Temba Bavuma expressed, “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."
India chose to bat, brimming with enthusiasm and confidence, while South Africa embraced the challenge of chasing down the target with a focus on improving their batting performance. The stage was set for an enthralling contest at this historic venue.
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
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