Shardul Thakur left out as Sunil Gavaskar names his India XI for Boxing Day test against South Africa

Sunil Gavaskar has named his India playing XI for the first test against South Africa.

Following a tie in the T20I series and a win in the ODI series, Team India will resume their ICC World Test Championship (WTC) campaign with a two-game series against hosts South Africa. This also means that seasoned campaigners Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah will play for Team India for the first time since the World Cup final in 2023.

The opening Test of the two-match series between India and South Africa will be held on Boxing Day at SuperSport Park in Centurion. India have never won a Test series in South Africa and has drawn a Test series twice. Their first Test win in South Africa came in 2006, 14 years after their first tour in 1992.

With India ready to face South Africa in the series opener next week, batting veteran Sunil Gavaskar has named his starting XI for the Boxing Day Test at Centurion’s SuperSport Park.

Sunil Gavaskar goes for two spinners in his India XI for Centurion Test

After gloveman Ishan Kishan sought to be released from the two-game series, India have added wicket-keeper KS Bharat to their Test team. Rahul, who is the favorite to maintain wickets for Rohit’s team in the first Test, was also included in Gavaskar’s Indian XI.

Sunil Gavaskar picked Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal as the openers for the Boxing Day Test on Star Sports, keeping things simple. According to the former India captain, superstar Shubman Gill would bat ahead of former captain Virat Kohli at No. 3 in the longest format. In the West Indies series, the former world No. 1 ODI batter auditioned for the No. 3 spot.

“My playing XI is gonna be very simple. The openers will be Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma – the captain. No.3 Shubman Gill, No.4 – Kohli, No. 5 KL Rahul and No.6 Shreyas Iyer. 5 and 6 can move, and after that will be Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.

Gavaskar announced his three selections, namely Bengal seamer Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj for the Boxing Day Test.

“Then I’ll have three fast bowlers – Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj,” Gavaskar added.

Sunil Gavaskar’s India XI for Centurion test:

Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (Wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

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