No Ashwin again, a debut confirmed and KL Rahul’s new role: India’s predicted XI for 1st Test vs South Africa

India return to Test cricket with a two-match series against South Africa starting Tuesday and with that, a number of their star players will be playing their first international match since the disappointment of the 2023 World Cup final.

Captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid have stated that the team has put the disappointment of the final behind them as they look to record a first-ever Test series win for India in South Africa.

Rohit, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah all return for the series, having missed the limited overs leg of the tour. Mohammed Shami was expected to do the same but he is yet to recover from an ankle injury. It is a big hole for India to fill and they have either Mukesh Kumar or Prasidh Krishna as their options. Mukesh did not have the greatest of time in the ODI and T20I legs of the tour and moreover, Prasidh’s style of bowling might just put the latter ahead in the pecking order. It means that Prasidh could earn his maiden Test cap in Centurion.

A new role for KL Rahul

KL Rahul may have captained India in one of the three Tests they played on their last tour to South Africa and scored a century as well. But he is set to be shifted out of his regular opening slot in this series and will be donning the wicketkeeper’s gloves as well. Captain Rohit stated that he will be batting in the middle order, as he has done prolifically off late in ODI cricket.

This leaves Yashasvi Jaiswal with a chance to cement himself as Rohit’s opening partner, with the 21-year-old having scored a whopping 266 runs in the two Tests he has played thus far. Shubman Gill, who has had a golden year in ODI cricket, would look to make amends for the rather topsy-turvy form he experienced in Tests. Kohli will be in his usual No.4 spot and he is likely to be followed by Shreyas Iyer, with Rahul, taking up the No.6 spot.

India have mostly gone with Ravindra Jadeja as opposed to Ravichandran Ashwin as their preferred spin-bowling all-rounder in conditions that aren’t too conducive to spin and that is likely to be the case in Centurion as well. Shardul Thakur will take up the role of fast-bowling all-rounder and he will be followed by Bumrah, Siraj and Prasidh.

India’s Predicted XI for the first Test vs South Africa

Openers: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal,

Top and middle-order: Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer

Wicketkeeper: KL Rahul (WK)

All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur

Pacers: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna