New Delhi:
Virat Kohli’s Indian cricket team will open their ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 campaign against South Africa at the Rose bowl. India had a mixed build-up to the World Cup, losing their opening game against New Zealand at The Oval while they thrashed Bangladesh. During the course of the matches, India suffered a couple of injury concerns to Vijay Shankar, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan. Shankar was hit on the forearm but medical tests cleared him of injury while Dhawan and Kohli got hit on the hand during practice. The Indian team has been in Southampton for close to five days and have acclimatised to the conditions well.
The Indian cricket team is settled on both the batting and bowling front. Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma all select themselves with Dhawan and Rohit set to open the innings. Kohli is the master at No.3 while KL Rahul, who was impressive in the game against Bangladesh, will be the number four batsman. MS Dhoni will shore up the lower middle order at No.5 while Hardik Pandya will be the X-factor. The No.7 spot could be up for grabs between Vijay Shankar, Kedar Jadhav and Ravindra Jadeja. With Jadeja performing well against New Zealand, India might go with him as the No.7 in this game.
Among the bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar form the core of a fantastic bowling line-up. On current form, Bumrah and Shami are on top of their game and they will be the key in every match. Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal are potent spinners and they will be on top of their game against South Africa, who are not known to be good players of spin.
Here is News Nation’s probable playing XI for the clash against South Africa
Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (captain), KL Rahul, MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal
