India skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat first against South Africa in the third and final Test at Ranchi on Saturday.
India, who lead the three-match series 2-0, handed a Test debut to left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, resting fast bowler Ishant Sharma.
Desperate to win the toss, Faf du Plessis brought in Temba Bavuma as ‘proxy captain’ to make the call. But the luck was not on his side either, as the coin once again landed in favor of Kohli.
The incident left captain Kohli and presenter Murali Karthik laughing.
Virat Kohli called it a no-brainer to bat first at the Toss #TeamIndia #INDvSA @Paytm 🇮🇳🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/3V4fKvcVWr
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 19, 2019
South Africa have brought in Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Lungi Ngidi, Zubayr Hamza, and Dane Piedt in the playing XI.
Apart from the injured opener Aiden Markram, they have left out Vernon Philander, Theunis de Bruyn, Senuran Muthusamy, and Keshav Maharaj.
Teams:
India: Virat Kohli (c), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shahbaz Nadeem, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami.
South Africa: Faf du Plessis (c), Dean Elgar, Quinton de Kock, Zubayr Hamza, Temba Bavuma, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), George Linde, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi.
